Blockchain in Healthcare Industry: Advancements, Challenges, and Opportunities

What is the Need for Blockchain in Healthcare?

In the ever-evolving landscape of healthcare, the urgency to develop advanced and quality health facilities is paramount. A patient-centered approach drives the industry, emphasizing accessible services and appropriate healthcare resources. With a multitude of stakeholders involved, including doctors, hospitals, insurance companies, and government agencies, seamless communication becomes pivotal for effective patient care. 

In 2021, GlobeNewswire reported an astonishing breach of over 50.4 million patient records, a concerning leap from the previous year’s 45.4 million breaches. 

Meanwhile, the WHO warns that approximately 30% of medicines in parts of Latin America, Africa, and Asia may be counterfeit, posing severe risks to millions who might receive fake or ineffective medication. These alarming statistics highlight the urgent need for robust solutions like blockchain technology to safeguard patient data and combat the proliferation of counterfeit drugs in the healthcare industry.

Inspired by the potential of blockchain technology, the healthcare sector envisions a systematic approach to streamline data exchange among all parties. 

Through blockchain’s decentralized and secure ledger, patient information, medical records, and insurance claims can be efficiently shared and updated in real-time, fostering better decision-making and enhancing patient outcomes. Embracing blockchain’s transparency and immutability, the healthcare industry moves towards a future where patient-centric care thrives through improved communication and data interoperability.

Also Read-The Role of Blockchain in Empowering Enterprise Metaverse Solutions

How is Blockchain Transforming Healthcare Industry?

Blockchain technology has the potential to transmute the healthcare industry by improving efficiency, transparency, and security. Here are some of the ways blockchain is transforming healthcare

1Secure and Transparent Patient Records

Traditional healthcare record-keeping systems often suffer from security vulnerabilities and lack transparency. Centralized databases are susceptible to data breaches and unauthorized access, compromising patient confidentiality and trust.

Blockchain technology ensures secure and transparent patient records by utilizing a decentralized and immutable ledger. Each transaction is cryptographically linked to the previous one, preventing unauthorized alterations. Patient data is encrypted, accessible only to authorized parties with private keys. This enhances data security, prevents data breaches, and empowers patients to control who can access their health information, fostering trust and confidentiality in the healthcare system.

2Facilitating Clinical Trials

Traditional clinical trial processes in healthcare are often time-consuming, and costly, and face challenges related to data integrity and transparency. Manual record-keeping and data discrepancies can lead to delays in research and hinder the identification of effective treatments.

Blockchain technology facilitates clinical trials by providing a transparent, secure, and decentralized platform for data collection and management. Smart contracts automate trial protocols, ensuring adherence to predefined conditions and real-time data verification. Immutable records and transparent data sharing foster trust and collaboration among researchers, accelerating the discovery of innovative medical interventions and improving outcomes.

3Enabling Smart Contracts for Healthcare

Blockchain technology enables smart contracts for healthcare, automating contract execution and enforcement. Smart contracts are self-executing agreements with predefined conditions that trigger automated actions when met. By using blockchain-based smart contracts, healthcare organizations can streamline administrative processes, reduce paperwork, and ensure transparent and tamper-proof transactions, leading to increased efficiency and cost savings.

For example, enabling smart contracts for healthcare can revolutionize medical insurance claim processing. When a patient submits a claim, the smart contract automatically validates the claim based on predefined criteria, such as treatment codes and coverage limits. If the conditions are met, the contract triggers an automated payment to the healthcare provider, reducing administrative delays and ensuring accurate and efficient reimbursement. 

4Combating Healthcare Fraud

Healthcare fraud is a significant challenge in the industry, leading to financial losses and compromised patient care. Fraudulent activities, such as false billing, identity theft, and unnecessary treatments, undermine the integrity of healthcare systems and divert resources from genuine patient needs.

Blockchain technology can combat healthcare fraud by providing an immutable and transparent ledger. Each transaction is time-stamped, making it tamper-proof and traceable. By using blockchain, healthcare organizations can verify the authenticity of patient data, prevent duplicate records, and detect suspicious activities in real time. This enhanced security and transparency empower healthcare providers to detect and prevent fraud, ensuring that resources are directed toward legitimate patient care.

5Improving Medical Credentialing

Medical credentialing is a complex and time-consuming process in healthcare, involving the verification of a provider’s qualifications, certifications, and licenses. The traditional manual verification methods can lead to delays in onboarding providers, potentially impacting patient care and administrative efficiency.

Blockchain technology can improve medical credentialing by creating a decentralized and verifiable record of a provider’s credentials. Providers can store their qualifications on the blockchain, which can be accessed and verified by authorized entities in real time. This streamlined process reduces administrative burden, accelerates provider onboarding, and ensures accurate and up-to-date credentialing information, enhancing the overall quality of healthcare services.

6Ensuring  Drug Safety

Ensuring drug safety is crucial in the healthcare industry, as counterfeit or substandard drugs can pose serious risks to patient health. Traditional supply chain systems often lack transparency, making it challenging to track the origin and authenticity of medications. In a press release, FDA announced the issuance of over $100 million in fines for drug safety violations in 2023. The most severe fine was $65 million, which was issued to a pharmaceutical company for failing to report adverse events.

Blockchain technology can enhance drug safety by creating a secure and transparent supply chain. Each drug can be traced from its origin to the end-user, ensuring authenticity and quality. This increased transparency fosters trust and confidence in the pharmaceutical industry and helps safeguard patient health.

Now that you understand how blockchain is transforming the Healthcare Industry. It’s important to gain insight into the game-changing use cases of blockchain in the Healthcare sector for a reality check. 

Blockchain's Game-Changing Use Cases

In the quest for a more secure, efficient, and patient-centric healthcare landscape, both blockchain healthcare startups and established organizations are embracing decentralized technology. Let’s shoot our dart to explore some real-life scenarios:

1Traceability of drugs and medical devices

The traceability of drugs is the ability to track and verify the entire supply chain journey of pharmaceutical products, ensuring authenticity, quality, and safety through transparent and immutable records.

Blockchain implementation in the pharmaceutical industry can enable end-to-end drug traceability. Through blockchain-based supply chain solutions, each drug’s journey, from manufacturing to distribution, can be recorded and verified in real-time. This traceability ensures that patients receive genuine medications and helps authorities identify and remove counterfeit drugs from the market promptly. By ensuring drug safety through blockchain, the pharmaceutical industry can prioritize patient well-being and build trust with consumers.

For example, IBM and Maersk are working together on a blockchain-based platform that is being used to track the movement of goods in the supply chain. This includes medical supplies, such as vaccines and blood products.

2Telemedicine

Telemedicine refers to the remote provision of healthcare services using communication technology, allowing patients and healthcare providers to connect virtually for consultations, diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring, regardless of geographical distance.

Telemedicine in the blockchain healthcare industry combines the benefits of virtual healthcare with the security and transparency of blockchain technology. It ensures secure patient data exchange, enhances interoperability, and enables tamper-proof records, fostering a seamless and trust-driven telemedicine experience for patients and healthcare providers alike.

Solve.Care, in partnership with Inha University, has launched specialized Web3 courses for South Korean students. The program aims to equip participants with the necessary skills to innovate and enhance Web3 digital health networks. By providing education on blockchain technology and its applications in healthcare, the initiative fosters a new generation of professionals capable of transforming the healthcare industry through decentralized solutions and improved patient care.

3Blood Plasma Supply Chain

The blood plasma supply chain refers to the intricate process of collecting, testing, processing, storing, and distributing blood plasma for medical use. Blood plasma is a crucial component used to create life-saving therapies for patients with various medical conditions, including immune deficiencies and bleeding disorders.

By leveraging blockchain’s decentralized and immutable nature, all steps of the supply chain can be recorded transparently and securely. This ensures the traceability and authenticity of plasma donations, reducing the risk of counterfeit products and enhancing overall patient safety.

The plasma supply chain market is experiencing rapid growth and Grand View Research report has projected it to reach a substantial value of $15.5 billion by 2024. However, the scarcity of plasma in the market could lead to severe consequences, potentially resulting in higher mortality rates for patients in need of plasma-based therapies. Addressing this issue is crucial to ensure an adequate and efficient supply chain for life-saving plasma products.

Below are examples of startups that are using blockchain to improve the blood plasma supply chain:

• Blumberg Bioplasma:

Blumberg Bioplasma is a company that is using blockchain to track the movement of blood plasma. This helps to ensure that the plasma is safe and that it is not being used for illegal purposes.

• Gem Health:

Gem Health is a blockchain-based platform that is being used to share healthcare data. The platform is also being used to track the movement of blood plasma.

4Remote Monitoring with IoT security

IoT security refers to the measures taken to protect Internet of Things (IoT) devices and systems from cybersecurity threats and unauthorized access. As IoT devices are increasingly used in remote monitoring applications, such as healthcare wearables and medical devices, ensuring their security is of paramount importance to safeguard sensitive patient data and prevent potential breaches.

Blockchain technology can enhance IoT security in healthcare by providing a decentralized and tamper-resistant ledger. IoT devices can record data directly onto the blockchain, ensuring the integrity and immutability of the information. This creates a transparent and secure data trail, reducing the risk of data manipulation or unauthorized access.

• Guardtime

Guardtime is a company that is developing blockchain-based solutions for cybersecurity. The company’s solutions are being used to secure IoT devices and protect sensitive healthcare data.

• Hedera Hashgraph:

Hedera Hashgraph is a distributed ledger technology that is being used to develop IoT security solutions for remote monitoring in healthcare. Hedera’s solutions are being used to secure medical devices and protect patient data.

5Verification of Medical Staff’s Credentials

Credential verification of medical staff is a critical aspect of ensuring patient safety and quality healthcare services. According to the National Medical Commission (NMC), a whopping 1.3 million allopathic doctors are registered with the State Medical Councils and NMC as of June 2022. Which is surely a mind-boggling number to operate with. 

Blockchain technology offers a secure and efficient solution for this process. By recording medical staff’s credentials, certifications, and licenses on a blockchain, healthcare institutions can establish a decentralized and tamper-proof database. 

This eliminates the risk of falsified credentials and enhances trust in the workforce. Companies like ProCredEx are already leveraging blockchain to streamline the verification process, providing a reliable and transparent system for verifying medical staff credentials across various healthcare organizations.

Now that we have explored and examined the use cases of blockchain technology in healthcare, let’s shift our focus to the challenges that must be addressed for successful integration.

What Challenges Does Blockchain Technology Face in the Healthcare Industry?

Like any transformative technology, Blockchain also faces its fair share of challenges in the healthcare industry. Below given are the key hurdles that blockchain encounters in the healthcare sector and their potential impact on its widespread adoption.

• Scalability

Blockchain faces scalability challenges in handling the increasing volume of healthcare data and transactions. As the network grows, validation time and computing power requirements escalate, hindering seamless data management.

Implementing innovative consensus algorithms, like sharding or side chains, can enhance blockchain scalability. Additionally, off-chain solutions and layer 2 protocols can alleviate network congestion and optimize data processing, ensuring efficient handling of healthcare data on the blockchain.

• Data Privacy and Regulation

GDPR is a European Union (EU) regulation that aims to protect the privacy and data rights of EU citizens. HIPAA, on the other hand, is a US federal law that safeguards the privacy and security of protected health information (PHI).

Blockchain’s inherent nature of immutability raises concerns about data privacy and compliance with regulations like GDPR and HIPAA. Striking a balance between data transparency and individual privacy while adhering to regulatory frameworks is essential to foster trust in blockchain-based healthcare solutions.

• Interoperability

Healthcare systems often use different standards for data formats and storage, making seamless interoperability a challenge. To fully realize the benefits of blockchain in healthcare, standardizing data formats and ensuring smooth data exchange among diverse systems is imperative.

While blockchain technology offers transformative potential in the healthcare sector, it faces numerous hurdles. Addressing these challenges requires collaborative efforts from stakeholders, policymakers, and technology experts. By finding effective solutions to these issues, blockchain can make a profound impact on the healthcare sector. 

Blockchain in healthcare is necessary due to its advantageous features that address critical issues faced by the industry. Let’s see what the future holds for this amazing technology.

What Does the Future Hold for Blockchain in Healthcare?

Looking at the current situation, the future of blockchain in healthcare is incredibly promising. With blockchain, all the dots of the healthcare industry can be connected effortlessly without causing any mayhem. 

A report published by Mckinsey shows the profit pools for commercial and healthcare segments. The healthcare segment and technology profit share are projected to encounter steady growth from 2021 to 2026, with a particular significance on data and technology-driven sectors. The healthcare industry’s increasing reliance on advanced technologies and data-driven solutions is projected to drive profitability in these sectors during the forecast period.

As blockchain continues to advance, its integration with Cryptocurrencies opens up new possibilities for various industries, including finance, supply chain, healthcare, and more. 

The phases of blockchain in the healthcare industry typically include exploration, experimentation, implementation, and widespread adoption. 

The first phase, Blockchain 1.0, is characterized by the early use of blockchain technology in healthcare. This phase was mainly focused on the development of proof-of-concept projects.

The second phase, Blockchain 2.0, is characterized by the increasing adoption of blockchain technology in the segment like Healthcare Apps. This phase saw the launch of several commercial blockchain-based solutions, such as MediLedger and Gem Health.

The third phase, Blockchain 3.0, is characterized by the widespread adoption of blockchain technology in healthcare. This phase is expected to see the development of even more innovative Blockchain-based Solutions, such as those that use blockchain to improve the security of patient records and the traceability of drugs and medical devices.

Overall, we can say that blockchain adoption in healthcare is still in its early stages, but it is progressing rapidly. As technology continues to develop, we can expect to see even more innovative solutions that will improve the efficiency, security, and quality of healthcare.

Closing Remark

Blockchain in the healthcare industry has emerged as a lifesaver, addressing critical challenges like data security, interoperability, and medical credentialing. Its adoption is crucial to recast patient care, streamline operations, and enhance overall healthcare efficiency. The urgency to embrace blockchain is evident, as it can potentially save lives and improve health outcomes.

As blockchain technology continues to advance, investing in this sector holds immense promise. Organizations that recognize the potential of blockchain in healthcare can gain a competitive edge and contribute to the advancement of the industry. If you are considering incorporating blockchain solutions into your healthcare business, Blocktunix is here to offer expert assistance. We support harnessing the full potential of this transformative technology by providing Blockchain Development Services. Together, let’s shape the future of healthcare with blockchain innovation.

3 Takeaways from Blockchain in Healthcare Industry

• Enhanced Data Security

Blockchain technology has great potential to alter the healthcare industry by enhancing data security, interoperability, and transparency, leading to improved patient outcomes and reduced costs.

• Smart Integration

Implementing blockchain in healthcare requires addressing challenges related to regulatory compliance, data privacy, and integration with existing systems, but the benefits outweigh the efforts.

• Strategic Investment

For businesses in the healthcare sector, investing in blockchain solutions can provide a competitive advantage and open up new growth opportunities. Partnering with experienced blockchain development companies like Blocktunix can help navigate the complexities and ensure the successful integration of this revolutionary technology.