At the Connected Health Conference in Boston last week, San Diego-based MintHealth announced the launch of a self-sovereign personal health record built using blockchain technology.
MintHealth is led by CEO Samir Damani and President Vishal Verma. Damani is also the founder of MD Revolution, a which focuses on chronic care management, and Verma serves as CEO of Nucleus Health, a medical imaging company that utilizes blockchain.
During an interview at the Connected Health Conference, Damani said MintHealth combines the knowledge of both organizations. It seeks to improve outcomes for patients while also making use of blockchain technology, through which it can break down data silos.
“It’s no wonder we haven’t reached the promise of predictive personalized medicine, because even though the data’s out there, it’s not put in one format,” Damani said.
Its use of blockchain also empowers patients to take control of their own health data.
Patients can access MintHealth online or via a mobile app. Each individual has a global identifier that enables them to access their information and oversee permissions to it.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
The platform also offers digital incentive tokens called vidamints, which are funded by payers. Patients receive the tokens when they participate in healthy behaviors. They can then use the vidamints to help pay for healthcare-related costs such as co-pays, premiums and pharmacy expenses. Damani said there will be a token launch in December or January.
“We … can layer on the one thing that we’ve missed out on in the reimbursement model, which is: How do you incentivize the patient?” he said. “Doctors are incentivized, but why aren’t patients incentivized?”
Additionally, MintHealth will release a solution through which providers can help manage and monitor the care of their patients.
The ultimate purpose of the model, Damani noted, is to align all stakeholders — providers, payers and patients — around the goal of helping patients reduce their risk of suffering from chronic conditions like diabetes, hypertension and heart failure.
To start, MintHealth will roll out its platform to commercial health insurers, who can purchase tokens to give to patients. But Damani foresees the model will be of interest to other players, such those in the government, as well.
“What you have to do is … give the data to the patient and let them be the ones that are sharing it,” he noted. “I think ultimately only that’s going to really solve the problem that we face with chronic conditions. Anything else is cost prohibitive.”
Photo: a-image, Getty Images
