CoinHealth ICO: Smart Wearable Health Device Blockchain?

Coinhealth is developing software for the medical industry that uses blockchain technology to offer electronic health records, patient portals, and payment histories. Developing the system with a blockchain rather than a traditional database both reduces costs and improves security.

The company hopes to eventually integrate its system with wearable devices to provide fitness insights in real time. Coinhealth is also releasing its own cryptocurrency as part of a crowdfunding effort, and is currently in the midst of its pre-ICO.

About CoinHealth

Coinhealth is the work of a small but highly experienced team. The company is still very new, and will likely not release any products until after its ICO in February 2018. The company has received a great deal of coverage on many sites devoted to ICO sales, and has begun to develop a presence on popular social media sites.

Coinhealth's cofounder, Shelley Colquitt, is also the president of a charity called Hope's Seed that helps chronically and terminally ill children; it's admirable that the company is involved in such philanthropic work, and it's a stark reminder of why medical innovations are so important.

The CoinHealth Product

Coinhealth's primary product is the Decentralized EHR System. It aims to include all of patients' important health records – vital readings, laboratory reports, x-ray and MRI images, legal documents such as wills, etc. – in one place. A patient's records will be accessible both through an online portal program, and also to doctors using a special master key in the event of an emergency. The company mentions in passing several features that it hopes to add in the future, including integration with pharmacies, drug interaction checking, and a peer-to-peer payment system.

The EHR system will be strongly encrypted, since medical records are a lucrative target for identity thieves. Using a blockchain significantly improves security by removing the need for third parties, which are the most common sources of unauthorized access.

Coinhealth hopes to connect with wearable devices, and record patients' vital signs in real time. This is not only to provide health insights, but also to power their LARK platform. LARK is an abbreviation for Lifetime Accessible Retirement Kinetic account; it is a wallet for Coinhealth's cryptocurrency, where users are automatically paid for healthy behavior. It's not clear who pays users for this, or why.

Coinhealth's cryptocurrency is ERC-20 compliant, meaning it can be stored in wallets designed for Ethereum. While the company is enthusiastically promoting its ICO, it does not clearly explain how the currency relates to its product, aside from being rewarded to users as part of the LARK program. The most logical application would be that miners who verify the blockchain would be paid in Coinhealth's cryptocurrency, but the whitepaper seems to indicate that they are paid in regular Ethereum.

The Opportunity

Coinhealth is one of several companies applying blockchain technology to electronic medical records; Embleema is a significant competitor. Blockchains improve the speed, cost, and security of data storage, so they're an excellent choice for this task, especially when considering complex interactions between several different offices. However, the platform must be proven effective before it is widely adopted or invested in, especially given the sensitivity of its material, and Coinhealth has not yet demonstrated its product.

The role of Coinhealth's cryptocurrency is poorly defined, and should be clarified for the sake of both its investors and those interested in using the platform. Like many companies offering an ICO, Coinhealth's whitepaper spends several pages explaining how to set up a cryptocurrency wallet and buy in, but fails to explain why its currency is expected to maintain value.

The Verdict On CoinHealth ICO

Many medical practices have already invested considerably in their record keeping software, so Coinhealth's platform may take a long time to gain a market share once it’s completed. The company's ideas about blockchains are innovative, but some – like the LARK system and its cryptocurrency – need to be explained in more detail. Investors should avoid buying Coinhealth's currency until they fully understand its role in the company's platform.