by Ramalatha Marimuthu

Blockchain technology has started permeating industries, especially where voluminous data needs to be handled with accuracy and where the presence of error can cause serious issues. Banking was the first industry in which blockchain really got its start. However, like banking, healthcare is another area where zero error accuracy is required. Currently, the healthcare industry is embedded with inefficiency, lack of accuracy, and high administrative costs. Blockchain is on the verge of transforming this industry through its decentralized principles and transparency-based operation.

The healthcare industry generates a lot of data owned by multiple stakeholders – making it prone to data breaches. For example, a patient’s data is not fully owned by the patient, it is owned partially by the hospital or the centre where the patient gets treated. Sensitive data being breached can lead to severe consequences for patients as well as health care providers. The lack of a secure infrastructure and the inability to completely own medical data can lead to some of the ethical concerns and moral repercussions that must be addressed.

Blockchain technology involves using computation power to create a random cryptographic hash for a set of transactions called a block. Different participants called “miners” compete and the first that succeeds, gets the block to the blockchain and the process continues. Once this block is included in the blockchain, it becomes a permanent record and changing the data is not possible, thus rendering immutability against hackers. This is ideal for data management in the healthcare domain, however the development of this technology for healthcare applications is still in its nascent stages.

Mhealth is a relatively new area of digital health but fast developing. This low-cost technology empowers patients as well as health care experts in providing real-time monitoring of medical conditions. It facilitates proactive treatment and reduces risks. The data generated might be continuous or in high frequency according to the severity of medical conditions and other factors like age, lifestyle, and accessibility to emergency treatments. All this data is mostly stored in servers which makes it highly risky. A tamper proof data management system is necessary to regulate and maintain the consistency of the data. Blockchain-based smart contract systems can monitor the sensors data and send notifications to the patient and healthcare expert but more importantly, monitor the further movement of data.

Patient health gateway is another application that is gaining momentum. Patient healthcare data should be fully owned and controlled by the patient alone. Currently, it is scattered across different systems, resulting in non-accessible records that could have been valuable, if shared. Gateways provide a new way to improve the intelligence of the healthcare systems while keeping security as a priority. Blockchain technology gateways can provide secure accessibility while keeping control of the data with the patient. Organizing data based on parameters and attributes will now be possible. Additionally, secure computation over the data through multiparty computing can enable third-party computation while securing the privacy of the data.

One more domain which blockchain technology is expected to transform is the pharmaceutical industry. According to WHO, one in every ten medical products administered to patients in low and middle-income countries is either substandard or falsified. This poses a major threat to world safety since these ineffective medicines could potentially fail to control viruses like Covid-19 for example, resulting in a pandemic. The most popular way these substandard and false medicines can be brought into the supply chain is by hacking the shipping data to intercept on the way.

Every industry would like to have flawless supply chain models but in the pharmaceutical industry, patient’s safety can be compromised which can lead to drastic consequences. In addition to managing inventory, it is also essential to reduce counterfeiting, theft, manipulation, and hacks of shipping data. Blockchain-based applications can manage inventory and trace shipping activities to ensure no anomalies in the deliveries take place. This can also manage cold chain shipping to ensure that medicines are maintained at the required temperature throughout their journey.

Ramalatha Marimuthu, IEEE Senior Member

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