Blockchain technology holds enormous promise in healthcare by potentially cutting out mistakes and inefficiency and injecting much needed transparency into the industry.
Even as the hype around cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have died down, major players are investing in applications to bring blockchain to healthcare.
Case in point: IBM and PNC Bank have started a new blockchain-focused partnership with Anthem, Aetna and Health Care Service Corporation to create a blockchain network that can improve healthcare transparency and interoperability, enhancing patient care and cutting costs in the process.
More specifically, the goal is apply blockchain technology to challenges such as creating faster claims and payment processing, developing more secure and easier to use healthcare information exchanges and maintain accurate provider directories.
Blockchain technology allows users to quickly, transparently and securely share data, overcoming a major stumbling block that healthcare organizations face as they try to better harness massive amounts of healthcare and medical data.
“Through the application of blockchain technology, we’ll work to improve data accuracy for providers, regulators, and other stakeholders, and give our members more control over their own data,” Aetna CTO Claus Jensen said in a statement.
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.
Aetna is a member of another blockchain collaborative known as the Synaptic Health Alliance that includes organizations like Optum, Ascension and Humana and is focused on the initial use case of creating more accurate provider directories.
Synaptic is planning to build a permissioned blockchain that would let members view, input, validate, update and audit non-proprietary provider data within the network.
Anthem has also dipped its toe into blockchain through a partnership with startup Doc.Ai to develop predictive models for patient allergies with help from Harvard Medical School researchers.
“We view Blockchain as an enabler for establishing trust,” Anthem Chief Digital Officer Rajeev Ronaki said in a statement. “With a trusted foundation based on transparency and cryptography, we will provide a faster, safer and more secure way to exchange medical information to transform the consumer healthcare experience.”
Picture: Getty Images, ismagilov
