Improving Healthcare Data Management
THROUGH BLOCKCHAIN
Improving Healthcare Data Management Through Blockchain
Blockchain technology is one of the healthcare industry’s most talked-about emerging technologies, which proponents see as providing numerous benefits. Its distributed and transparent structure offers security and privacy for healthcare stakeholders, and given its potential, there are many innovative ways through which blockchain can be applied.
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Similarly, healthcare providers have the benefit of viewing unified patient data that’s accessible across the care team. In such a setting, this uniformity ensures a more efficient care coordination process.
As organisations continue to assess how to operationalise blockchain technology, the ways it can help healthcare data management include:
Better Patient Data Access and Control
In a typical blockchain ecosystem, every member of the network has a local copy of the shared data. Should an entity want to make a change, the edit must meet certain criteria before it can be confirmed. Every network member must also authorise the change before it is committed, and each member’s data set changes to reflect the transaction.
Where the data in question is an individual’s health records, the patient has control over who sees the information and can make changes. With a private blockchain, the patient can monitor any new edits for accuracy and even limit which healthcare stakeholders get to see the information.
Efficient Coordinated Care
Similarly, healthcare providers have the benefit of viewing unified patient data that’s accessible across the care team. In such a setting, this uniformity ensures a more efficient care coordination process.
In a typical blockchain ecosystem, every member of the network has a local copy of the shared data.
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