The Taipei Medical University Hospital in Taiwan has revealed its intentions to launch a blockchain-powered platform which is meant for the sole purpose of keeping medical records in the hospital. This was reported by a local media outlet in Taiwan, Taipei Times on 31st August.
The platform which is tagged “Healthcare Blockchain Platform” is a project borne out of the need to support government’s Hierarchical Medical System policy, improve patient referral services, and integrate individual healthcare networks in order to allow residents access their medical records in a comfortable and conducive way. Also, the invention will enable patients to request for their records by simply logging in to a password-protected mobile application.
According to the details of the project, about 100 more clinics in Taiwan would be adopting the blockchain technology to mitigate the harshness of the traditional healthcare system which includes the transfer of data between medical institutions and patient portals.
Through the instrumentality of this platform, patients can access “a complete set of all their medical records, including high-resolution medical images, lab results, and clinical, and health exam information.” Hospitals will be enabled to make a request, authorize and share patients’ data using smart contracts when the need arises.
Chen Ray-jade who is a Hospital superintendent has reportedly stated that the blockchain technology adoption will also help minimize imminent risks of security breaches which is peculiar to the previous traditional system, he further noted that:
“Blockchain technology not only helps to combine electronic medical records with electronic health records from multiple hospitals and clinics, it also incorporates the additional security feature of notification and consent before any transfer takes place.”
Global Trend of Blockchain Adoption into Healthcare
The global trends in the world healthcare sector have been reported in several publications as data management in healthcare is gradually employing the genius of the Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) severally. It was earlier reported that South Korean biotech enterprise, Macrogen, in collaboration with local firm, Bigster, is working on a project which aims to develop a massive medical data ecosystem that would give room for secure and private storage and transfer of extensive sensitive personal information of patients.
About five months ago, a United State-based institution, Scientist.com revealed its intentions to launch a new blockchain platform designed to trace and secure pharmaceutical data.
Also in April, German Camelot Consulting Group came up with an initiative to develop a blockchain based which will solve the issues which often arise in managing sensitive medical records, the technology will store encrypted data transactions on a reliable and incorruptible blockchain which will be operated personally by participants with authority to do so.
