Major health information provider for the United States government just stepped in the blockchain space following its partnership with the blockchain-powered startup Solve.Case

HMS Technologies Inc. (HMS) is a highly reputable and a key healthcare solution company that is dedicated to serving the United States Federal government with telemedicine and telehealth solutions. In addition to that, the company also serves rural and veterans health among other programs. HMS is currently supporting many Federal agencies including the Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Commerce (DOC). And now Solve.Care is their partner for delivering blockchain driven solutions to their clients.

As part of the partnership, HMS will be incorporating Solve.Care’s blockchain platform in their federal health information technology (HIT) initiatives with an aim to reduce the cost of government healthcare and to improve interoperability and accessibility simultaneously.

Solve.Care is an Estonian-based startup that is leveraging the blockchain technology to create a platform for the healthcare sector intended to improve the process that users undergo in the quest for high-quality healthcare. The platform is specifically designed to simplify access to care, reduce cumbersome administrative steps, simplify and propel payments to healthcare providers globally.

The platform offers various types of blockchain solutions to its users and will be aiding HMS in their endeavor via Care.Wallet, Care.Card and Care.Coin.

Care.Wallet

It is a personal healthcare coordinator that allows interactions between stakeholders to improve access, reduce costs and streamline payments

Care.Cards

Care.Cards are the personalized healthcare apps in the Care.Wallet that link, sync and share across wallets in order to streamline coordination and administrations between all the parties involved.

Care.Coin

It is the payment currency that manages direct & third party payments between stakeholders in order to reduce costs and fight the menace of fraud.

The startup will not be in direct contact with the U.S. government, rather it will support HMS in acquiring contracts. It will also be providing them with access to Solve.Care’s platform to launch population-specific Care Networks, such as for disabled veterans, elderly, the blind or disabled and homeless people.

Bill Kirkpatrick, CEO of HMS, believes that the partnership will enable different HIT applications, in sharing secured health data with patient’s authorization, using unsecured internet connectivity. This in turn, will improve the aspects of care coordination, all the while enhancing digital healthcare profiles and streamlining access to virtual healthcare services.

For Solve.Case, this partnership is a means to mass adoption because when population-specific Care Networks are launched, there will be an increase in the adoption of Care.Wallets and Care.Cards in those wallets. However, the platform does claim that this partnership is not one without substance, as they have been working on it for almost a year in order to deliver ‘real value to real people’.

The ambitious startup has been stirring quite the hype before this partnership with HMS as earlier in March, Solve.Care struck a partnership with the ride sharing service Lyft. The partnership was the first instance of an amalgamation of blockchain technology and a ride sharing service for the healthcare industry.

The main aim of the partnership was to provide people with larger transportation options when it came to medical transportation in non-emergency situations. Through integrating the Lyft app into the Care.Wallet, patients could schedule transportation to and from their appointments.

How Blockchain is Revolutionizing the Health Care Industry

The blockchain technology has grown significantly in the past couple of years as its applications now span over a number of fields including fintech, entertainment and even healthcare. According to a survey conducted by researchers and analysts at Gartner, the business value-add of blockchain will exceed $3.1 trillion by 2030. Specifically in the healthcare sector, blockchain can serve a colossal amount of purposes.

Patient’s Medical Records

Medical records are of utmost importance for both, the patients seeking treatment and for the hospitals that are treating them. Although most hospitals require for the patients to fill in their medical history accurately, often human error can occur, which could lead to life threatening situation. There are blockchain-powered platforms that amalgamate all the medical records of patients and store them on a blockchain based ledger that not only manages records in a chronological order but also safeguard them from unnecessary prying eyes.

Online Consultation

Online consultation is one of the most ease offering application of blockchain. The technology has the potential to eliminate physical consultation until it is direly needed. With the help of blockchain clinicians can review medical records of patients available on blockchain with ease and diagnose the patients accordingly.

Provision of Medical Data to Researchers

While quite a few blockchain projects are patient oriented, it doesn’t imply that they are only limited for them. Blockchain could also be beneficial for researchers and analysts in the field as it can provide them with legitimate medical records with consent of the patient. Furthermore, patients can be offered incentives in exchange for their permission to utilize medical records.

Blockchain Projects in the Health Sector

The same research also revealed that 11% of all blockchain-based applications being developed are dedicated to healthcare. Here are a few projects that are paving the way for an advanced healthcare industry.

Docademic

This Ethereum-based platform is striving to make free health care a reality. Docademic is a single globally sourced healthcare service platform for the public that begins with free Human Doctor-AI assisted Video. This application allows free of cost service of ‘telemedicine’ through which a patient and his doctor can be connected instantly. Through the app, you can get medical suggestions and recommendations from doctors that can help you improve your health.

MediBloc

MediBloc provides a data integration system that assembles every bit of medical information on a patient with real-time updates for every new entry into the system, such that at any given point in time, the system can be accessed for a patient’s comprehensive medical history.

TimiHealth

TimiHealth is a health information exchange built on blockchain, which aims to simplify the process of sharing healthcare data between institutions. TimiHealth stores all patient data on the blockchain, all the while allowing the access of patient records securely in real time and by authorized parties. The data can only be accessed via a smart contract after patient’s authorization.

It seems that blockchain is ready to lead the healthcare sector into a more decentralized and secure future.