How Blockchain Can Change the Future of Medicine

How can healthcare providers better protect their patients’ data?  One possible answer lies in the blockchain.  For those unfamiliar, a blockchain is a distributed ledger for recording transactions and tracking assets.  In this case, it could be used to track a patient’s medical history on a secure, unalterable platform.  By incorporating blockchain into wearable medical devices, every device is linked to the patient’s health records.  The implementation of blockchain has been pioneered by cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).  It would take some modification to put patient records on the blockchain in a secure fashion, but it could be done.  

By securing medical records on fragmented systems, it is much harder for cyber criminals to hack and steal data.  Blockchain could even improve the provision of telehealth initiatives.  At the moment, the main risk of telehealth stems from the lack of security controls over the collection, use, and sharing of data on third party platforms.  With blockchain powered telehealth, there is a seamless exchange of secured data and increased consumer confidence in the system.  Both patient and provider can view copies of the ledger in this system.