The healthcare industry has great hope with the implementation of blockchain technology. Intermountain Healthcare operates 22 hospitals and is based out of Utah. According to forbes.com, they were the first to deploy this groundbreaking blockchain technology into their establishments. Within the medical group, there are more than 180 clinics with over 1,600 physicians and practicing clinicians.
Intermountain combines the blockchain-based tech with artificial intelligence to help identify waste in their huge healthcare system. The intended outcome from implementing these systems is to increase savings and take better care of patients.
Frank Ricotta is the CEO of BurstIQ. He believes data will be the driving force in the future of the healthcare industry, and blockchain technology is going to enable the foundation for it. Ricotta feels that blockchain technology is a way to add a trusting overlay over the internet that allows different parties to safely and accurately transfer health data and other representations of value.
The blockchain-based platform that BurstIQ has is HIPAA compliant and offers an effective way for a healthcare organization to store, manage and analyze Big Data. Ricotta went on to explain that it also helped to solve two of their most difficult challenges faced by his organization and others in the healthcare community. Securing underlying data and supporting large volumes of it has always been a complex task. With the tech, the blockchain solution can enable data sovereignty, data ownership and privacy with the accessibility of the data across many areas like health systems, patients, government agencies, insurance, biopharma and medical research communities.
The blockchain does not work in a vacuum. It is partnered with Empiric Health’s analytics and artificial intelligence. The technology will analyze different facets of medical procedures and find a way to connect them to their corresponding outcomes. The company runs analytics after a patient has fully completed their medical procedures. Afterward, they gather information on the treatment they received and the outcome of it.
When healthcare organizations can review accurate data concerning the outcomes and effectiveness of each medical treatment, the doctors will be able to make more informed decisions about future treatments they prescribe to their patients.
The deployment of blockchain technology is still in the initial phases of deployment. Everyone is happy to see how large healthcare organizations can collaborate with the tech and experience the benefits. There is hope that the great results will be shared across the United States and more healthcare systems will take notice.
