Blockchain in Medicare
Traditional Medicare systems have a lot of problems. Security, interoperability and fraud are some of these problems. Blockchain technology can revolutionize these old systems and it can be innovative and useful.
Blockchain is a distributed ledger and all people can participate in it. Every person can transfer data to others and it creates a secure system for financial transactions. Blockchain is a network of nodes and when there are changes in one node, all the nodes in network will update and the change is in every node.
Blockchain has two main advantages over traditional systems. First it puts the patient in the center of Medicare and the patient decides to whom send the history and records of his/her health. The second is interoperability. Blockchain is like a catalogue which lists every item.
One of the problems of today`s world is fraud. This problem is tougher in Medicare and annually it wastes a lot of money and energy. Blockchain solves this problem, too. It can create a secure system that tracks all the transactions.
We dont say blockchain is panacea and it can solve all the problems. There a lot of challenges facing blockchain and many researches are needed. Medicine is very different from finance. In financial issues we can test everything easily but adopting blockchain in medicine will be slow and with precaution. Smart contracts can help blockchain in this path. They can trigger actions after each other and the person who does the first action will receive reward. Blockchain with smart contracts is an advanced model and it can solve many problems in Medicare. Blockchain can help insurance industry, too. Interoperability is a critical problem for insurance companies and security and fraud are among the other problems and blockchain has solutions for all of the mentioned problems. Blockchain can create a better relationship between insurance companies and clients. There are some new platforms and companies around the world that have started using blockchain in medicine and Medicare. Platforms like WELL and Solve.care and companies like Accenture situated in Ireland are among the pioneers. Imagine a patient in these traditional systems of Medicare, when he/she changes his/her hospital, he/she should start all the tests again and this creates a big cost for the patient. It also takes a lot of time. With blockchain, all the tests and information are available and every doctor, nurse and son on can get the tests and information but with the consent of the patient. The patient cant change or omit any information. He/She can just decide about the person who receives the information. Then you can see that blockchain is very innovative and it represents a new and more advanced model of Medicare.
We should believe in change and let it come. Blockchain makes a revolution in the mentioned industry but in this path, it needs cooperation and attention from governments and experts. Let`s help to make the world a better place.
Source
Resources:
https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/public-sector/articles/blockchain-opportunities-for-health-care.html#
https://medtechengine.com/article/blockchain-technology/
https://patimes.org/blockchain-technology-eliminate-medicare-fraud/
https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/life-sciences-and-health-care/articles/blockchain-in-insurance.html
https://www.cryptoninjas.net/2018/01/03/healthcare-blockchain-platform-well-launches-token-sale/
https://solve.care/tokensale?l=en
https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/lists/25-blockchain-companies-in-healthcare-to-know-2017.html