Blockchain technology aim at fulfilling automated transactions digitised paperwork, and to speed up processes in the most secure way possible. Through this technology, it can iron out inevitable hiccups that concern supply chain processes such as warehousing and delivery, among others for a more efficient and transparent workflow. But the truth of the matter is, all these functionalities slide at the tip of the iceberg only.

Originally developed to reinvent the power grid of digital currency or what we call Bitcoin, Blockchain technology indeed has the potential to cause massive paradigm shift that burgeons to different sectors.

With its considerable power to create even more possibilities that undoubtedly exceeds our expectations, it couldn’t be helped but boil down to one question: Is blockchain for the healthcare space hype or hope?

Blockchain: Does it solve it all?

Different blockchain experts share their varying takes about it. Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain book author David Gerard argues that running cryptocurrencies is the only successful use for blockchain technology. Moreover, Blockchain consultant Arno Laeven, the man behind the tech projects of KLM, Shell, and Phillips, reckons “Blockchain is being overhyped. It is not going to solve all business problems and we need to be careful not to shoe-horn it into existing systems where it might not fit.” Bitcoin developer and Blockchain Capital venture partner Jimmy Song concurs that blockchain is not always the right tool for any job, he feels that ‘blockchain is only appropriate if the goal is a secure, decentralised, append-only ledger.’ He adds that less expensive and complicated options can use when sharing databases other than blockchain should be considered. Kim Schrik, Shell’s Product Manager, believes that these should not discount the potentials of the blockchain technology. “When the Internet was first developed no-one had any comprehension that it could be used for things like Uber or Airbnb,” she says.

The art of trust. Goodbye, intermediaries?

Blockchain technology is said to be the cusp of revolutionising many facets of healthcare. With its advanced data security features alone, it only ‘allows the distribution of encrypted digital information’ and not merely by letting your personal data be copied and that’s about it.

With major industries, blockchain can transform record transfers by replacing the ‘central system with a decentralised, consensus-based ledger of chained records. Each record is connected to the one before and the one after it, yielding a traceable history of every transaction. No record can be deleted, and no existing records can be altered.’

But does this mean that with blockchain, we can ultimately eliminate intermediaries and fully rely on its trustless relationship thanks to its automation power instead?

Distributed Lab founder and cryptography, information security & technological risks expert Dr. Pavel Kravchenko says that while blockchain may be instrumental in minimising trust towards intermediaries, he strongly believes that there is no way that third-party intermediaries, otherwised called as oracles or validators in technical perspectives, will ever be replaced by the automization process.

‘With or without blockchain, national registries will always require intermediaries that put the data in it — government. With or without blockchain, the digital ownership platform will always require middlemen that would verify your identity, make sure that the apartment you ‘digitally own’ actually exists or bricks (digital tokens backed by bricks) that you bought haven’t decayed so you can have them delivered right alone.’

Hype or hope

While many people still confuse Blockchain with Bitcoin, in permissionless blockchain technology such as in bitcoin where middlemen can be fully excluded as each user basically covers all the work that intermediaries do, other industries do require validators and oracles, such as in healthcare industry?

With verified healthcare ecosystem that hinge on privacy and security concerns as well as transactions of secure, targeted data from different stakeholders, patients, and medical institutes among others.

To set the record straight, blockchain in healthcare is not an all-around quick fix for interconnected business problems. Yes, it is undoubtedly disruptive but it’s an evolutionary journey that can only be most effective when there is an industry-wide adoption of this technology.

This LinkedIn article explains how blockchain answers this healthcare industry concern by building trust between healthcare stakeholders and patients with its increased security and transparency, permanent documentation and accurate tracking, and improved regulatory compliance allowing oracles/validators to monitor data transactions among others.

On top of it, blockchain technology addresses two of the healthcare ecosystem’s top concerns which are access to healthcare data owned not by the patients but by many healthcare stakeholders and inherent skepticism with data sharing and ensured privacy.

Through this technology, it allows real-time patient access and interoperability that enables data exchange systems that are cryptographically secured and irrevocable. It also drives collaborations across different sectors when it comes to studies that concern clinical trials. These are beneficial for medical research. And lastly, it ensures drug supply chain integrity.

At the end of the funnel where blockchain and healthcare system powerfully fit together, progressive apps you can trust such as VisionBanker that successfully leverages blockchain technology give hope by providing extra value to the overall customer journey experience. Aimed at storing and forecasting eyesight data, the VisionBanker app not only notifies you to get your eyes checked, but it aligns you with a forecast of your eyesight dynamics as you age and guides you on how you can change your behavior to improve your eyesight.

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