The application of blockchain in managing patient records

By Dr. Dare Godiya Ishaya.

Ablockchain is essentially a digital ledger of transactions that is duplicated and distributed across the entire network of computer systems on the blockchain. Each block in the chain contains several transactions, and every time a new transaction occurs on the blockchain, a record of that transaction is added to every participant’s ledger.1-2

Although the identity of the founder remains a mystery, the blockchain concept was brought to light by the infamous Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008, and quickly took the form of the decentralized currency – ‘Bitcoin’. It helps to eliminate the need for intermediaries, such as banks, while at the same time making it difficult or impossible to change, hack, or cheat the system.1,3

Blockchain has also found application in the medical industry in various ways, such as in transactions such as purchase and shipping transactions in the supply chains of medical equipment and pharmaceuticals; however the greatest prospects have been in the aspect of patient record keeping.4

The Healthcare sector throughout the world generates a copious amount of data every day in the form of clinical trials, patient medical records, medical research and more. This massive amount of data is neither standardized nor organized, thereby making it burdensome to access the appropriate and relevant information when needed.1

Even though, recently, there has been a transition by most health institutions from manual to electronic health records (EHR), with opportunities for cost savings and reduced medical errors, there are still enormous challenges.

One of such is the burnout associated with the use of EHRs. Many practitioners have expressed the feeling that EHRs cause far too much of their time ultimately be spent on data entry. This takes away from other important aspects of

tending to clients and can even eat into the physician’s time. There are also issues such as poor quality documentation due to template-based reporting, and incompatibilities between different systems have further caused headaches and increased inefficiencies.1,3,5 These challenges are addressed by Blockchain-based electronic health records. It gives doctors and nurses control over the flow of information from a single, trusted platform. Everyone would be able to see the same data, and all updates would be visible to the whole network almost immediately. This means that medical teams can trust that what they learn about a patient is both accurate and up to date.1,6

All the data can be shared with any hospital at any time, ensuring process integrity and a simpler ecosystem based on disintermediation and a trustless exchange. Blockchain technology also gives more power to patients such that they can choose which data to share, whom to share their healthcare data with and how much of it.6

Even though it has numerous advantages, this technology also has drawbacks. Some of them include. The technology is still in its nascent stage hence even large corporations are struggling to integrate it into their core systems.6

Also, the high buy-in for the technology coupled with the huge amount of processing power required to keep it up is proving to be a deterrent. Another drawback is the fact that, although it can handle personal data like IDs and certificates, large data like CT scans will be difficult to store in blockchains.6 In conclusion, Blockchain technology is here to stay and flourish, especially, at a time when the medical system has never been more strained or more critical and its vulnerabilities exposed. It opens the door to an overall better healthcare system.