Issues in Healthcare Services and Its Solution with Blockchain

Issues In Healthcare Services And Its Solution With Blockchain

Healthcare sector is undoubtedly among the most crucial amenity in human beings’ lives as it is responsible for the quality of life. Healthcare transformation has become a significant consideration in this era of technological innovations and exceptional technical advances. Some major concerns in this sector for patients are increasing healthcare costs, data security, and many other unprecedented challenges in the healthcare industry that have been demanding technology and innovations to be dealt with. All these demands seem to be responded well with the help of Blockchain technology. Blockchain in healthcare has shown the potential of creating suitable conditions for better, faster and cost-efficient health outcomes.

With the application of Blockchain technology in the healthcare sector, doctors can achieve the desired results more quickly as informing patients about their health and body status becomes convenient with this. This article focuses on several issues and challenges in the healthcare industry. It discusses various opportunities presented by Blockchain solutions for improving the healthcare industry's conditions and what outcomes this technology can produce for the healthcare sector.

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Issues and Challenges in the Current Healthcare System

• Maintenance of Health Data

  Healthcare system today is missing a streamlined approach to managing health data and creating universal records. This has been a significant setback because it poses a significant constraint in providing quality healthcare services for patients. It has a substantial impact on the health of people.

• Loss of Data for Several Reasons

  Health data and records are vulnerable to fraudulent alterations and are prone to damage and accidents. Many instances of theft of data or fraudulent manipulations in the healthcare records have been reported recently in different parts of the world.

• Poor Organization

  Healthcare is not well-organized with the current healthcare data management systems. Such a mess causes loss of time and money in maintaining and tracking the patients’ medical records and history.

• Tracking Data of Health Surveys and Keeping Records of the same

  It is cumbersome to obtain and track different medical campaigns or healthcare relief activities operated by various healthcare agencies. The same records are managed and maintained by respective agencies only and brought them together when required is a significant concern with the current healthcare system.

• Payments and Claims

  Health system involving hospitals and laboratories are having trouble in obtaining and collecting payments, managing claims of insurance and remittances, and managing underpayments. This causes loss of much time and resources for hospitals and other healthcare agencies.

• Re-diagnosing

  Tracking patients’ medical history and obtaining records of their tests and diagnostics is a significant challenge for hospitals. Consequently, it requires a re-diagnosis of the patient’s health issues, which costs time, money, and healthcare staff efforts.

• Pharmaceutical Products and Impact on patient’s Health

  Medicines and pharmaceutical products use to pass through several stoppages, posing significant conversion issues of actual prescriptions to counterfeit drugs which can have huge impacts, maybe the risk of life also, for patient’s health.

• Healthcare Research

  Healthcare research is being conducted to find new cures and more effective treatment measures. Their records are stored as the results of clinical trials to address various unusual medical conditions. This data is sometimes, hard to be obtained when needed, and also there is the risk of the information being stolen, corrupt or damaged.

The above-mentioned issues are major challenges faced by the healthcare industry in ensuring quality healthcare services for patients and experiencing hardship in improving the efficiency of the healthcare system. Now, let’s see what opportunities are possible by application of Blockchain technology in the healthcare sector.

Blockchain Opportunities for Healthcare Sector

Data Accuracy and Transparency: Blockchain-based medical records are featured with a greater level of accuracy and transparency as a distributed, decentralized ledger of Blockchain ensures zero possibility of alteration and manipulation in the records. This makes the documents and information stored more authentic and dependable. Such accurate electronic records can improve the quality of treatment by providing actual status in real-time.

• Data Privacy and Security

  Privacy and security of information about patients’ health status get improved with Blockchain technology because the ledger storing the data is memorable and unforgettable. As the data requires to be validated and verified by every node, any possibility of deletion or editing in data seems impossible with Blockchain.

• Reduced Data Handling Costs

  Blockchain’s decentralized ledger and self-executing features help reducing data handling costs as they provide easy access to records or patient information regardless of time and location.

• Easy Public Health Management

  Blockchain enables live feed in shared ledgers for different agencies conducting health campaigns and relief efforts. It helps to manage public health campaigns and efforts efficiently.

• Billing Management with Blockchain

  With Blockchain, time-taking, and lengthy medical payments and billings can be more efficient as Blockchain abandon the need for third-party involvement in the process. It facilitates a direct and track-able flow of revenues and records.

• Easy Management of Data for Patients

  Blockchain facilitates easy management of data to patients and caretakers. It allows faster uploads and protected storage to ensure updated medical information without making changes in previous records. This data is accessible for doctors at any time and anywhere.

• Immutability

  The information stored in a Blockchain ledger is immutable and doesn’t alter prescriptions. Blockchain-based healthcare system apps and web solutions guarantee efficient drug traceability and enhance the supply chain process.

• Higher Degree of Data Control

  Blockchain-based clinical trial process ensures a greater level of data control as it facilitates transparency and accountability. This way, Blockchain technology provides easy access to crucial information for researchers, pharmaceutical companies, and legislators in a more secure manner.

Above are the significant changes and improvements, Blockchain applications can bring in the healthcare sector. We need to discuss the numerous Blockchain applications in the industry that have brought efficiency in different healthcare management processes.

Blockchain technology Applications Transforming Healthcare Industry:

Some of the efficient technical systems and use cases have been applied in the healthcare industry. Observing the need for flexibility IT sector has increased Healthcare sector app development using Blockchain technology. Some of the potential Blockchain applications for the healthcare industry are as follows:

• Electronic Health Records

  Maintaining electronic records for tracking health progress and information regarding patients is one of the most vital applications of Blockchain technology in the industry. These patient records involve disease registries, laboratory records of tests and result, medication history, treatments and more. The single master index of such records can be accessed through various addresses and multiple keys.

• A Blockchain can alternate medical Credentialing Solutions

  The existing inefficient and delayed degree verification, credentialing and continuing education powered medical credentialing solution. It can be the best way to verify hospitals’ credentialing, medical studies institutions, and national and international health agencies using various sources for the same.

• Advanced Biomedical Research

  Biomedical research can increase its activities, implications and impact by utilizing the potential of Blockchain technology. Blockchain provides greater levels of transparency, accessibility and mobilization of scientific knowledge.

• Clinical Trial Management

  Blockchain initiate building a patient-centric database that allows various data sources such as hospitals, pharmacists, laboratories and care providers can share the trail results regularly for patient access. This way, Blockchain can improve clinical trial management system through the database for patient’s ease.

• Modernizing Pharmaceutical Supply Chain

  Blockchain can provide for greater transactional data visibility and interoperability. It serves the prevention of delivering falsified medicines. Blockchain solutions, this way ensure enhancing the vital characteristics of a drug supply chain.

Above applications of Blockchain technology can improve healthcare services and bring more efficiency in the industry operations and patient treatment and care. But there exist some challenges in the implementation of Blockchain solutions in the industry. These challenges are:

• Difficult to Understand

  Understanding the Blockchain technology can be a bit harder for many people. For them, it is hard to accept until they understand its nature.

• Storage Constraints

  Healthcare and medical data are too large and need more storage space which is quite impractical and rigid for small scale Blockchain development companies.

Blockchain technology implementation requires a decent infrastructure and expert services for interconnectivity and efficiency, which are significant technical constraints in Blockchain’s success in the healthcare industry.

Data ownership rules and the absence of privacy policy regulations in Blockchain are also significant barriers in applying Blockchain technology in the healthcare industry.

Above constraints or challenges present hurdles in the expansive application of Blockchain technology in the healthcare sector but all these barriers and constraints can be addressed, and their solution can be found.

The potential of Blockchain and its suitability for healthcare highly relies upon the attitude towards the acceptance of the new technology. Healthcare app development services are presenting ample scope of taking over existing inefficient system of healthcare services management. Suppose you are also part of the healthcare industry as a hospital owner, doctor, pharmacist, in supply chain or working with any other public health agency. In that case, you must go for experiments with the technology to bring efficiency in your system. You should hire Healthcare app developers who are proficient in Blockchain technology and build effective Blockchain solution for your healthcare business. Hiring Blockchain app developers may give your healthcare business a boost that would help you obtaining a competitive edge in the industry.

Blockchain has raised the hope for improvement in healthcare management. Though certain concerns and speculations have emerged regarding the integration of Blockchain with the existing healthcare mechanism and its implementation, many use cases and possibilities have helped recognize the disruptive scope by Blockchain for the healthcare sector.