The Health | March , 2021

Easy transfer of patients between providers The information shared on blockchain could enable individual patients to easily share their health data with other providers or organisations , through a private key that can be shared . Interoperability and collaboration of health information technology ( HIT ) are possible between the different users .

BY ZULKIFLI AHMAD

gross domestic product ( GDP ) is spent on healthcare . Hospital costs continue to increase , along with inefficiencies and health data breaches continue to be a bane . During the Covid-19 pandemic , the world witnessed how technology and digitalisation have been accelerated and some industries disrupted with the advent of new innovations .

Blockchain technology is one of them and inefficiencies and data breaches have become a thing of the past for healthcare . Blockchain has multicapabilities from handling epidemics to providing secure encryption of patient information .

How blockchain helps

The term ‘ Blockchain ’ is about a shared record that cannot be changed pertaining to a chain of transactions , each consisting of one block , with the blocks being clustered together by cryptographic keys called “ hashes ”.

These keys or signatures are stored in shared ledgers , accompanied by nodes or processes that connect them . Each node has a copy of the whole chain , being constantly updated and synchronised .

The advantages of blockchain technology , include its tamperresistant nature , the digital ledgers are decentralised , and the immutability of a published transaction subsequently in the user community that shares the ledger . This technology is also known as digital ledger technology ( DLT ).

Application of blockchain

1 ) Corporate Governance - Using blockchain for smart contracts and verifiable transactions can make business accounting more transparent .

2 ) manufacturing - this is part of sustainable development goals ( SDGs ) of improving and achieving innovation highly technology-driven processes . Blockchain can eliminate security vulnerabilities , protect intellectual properties from theft

Talking ESG

BY ZULKIFLI AHMAD and streamline project management helping 3D and the manufacturing sectors to grow .

3 ) Energy Management - blockchain can minimize or even eliminate the need for intermidiaries like resellers . The technology can also enable relevant companies to provide access to renewable energy .

4 ) Education - blockchain can be used to simplify administrative tasks , decentralise learning materials to make them more accessible , create a network for parents to share their experiences and storage of education data .

5 ) Food & Beverage - blockchain can help manufacturers and distributors avoid highly sensitive issues like halal and meat mix ups , E . Coli , and several mishaps . The technology can help monitor the food supply chain and the traceability aspect is paramount and invaluable considering the previous mishaps of mislabelling meat to the chagrin of society . According to Delloitte , “ blockchain technology has the potential to transform healthcare , placing the patient at the center of the healthcare ecosystem and increasing the security , privacy and interoperability of health data ”.

Blockchain benefits in healthcare

Tracking the virus and outbreaks At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic globally , various methodologies were thought of to help contain the scourge of the pandemic . Blockchain enables real time virus reporting and tracing disease patterns that pinpoint its origin and areas of transmissions

Patient care is more efficient Blockchain capability can create a single system to be stored and regularly updated while health records enable for secure and fast retrieval by authorised users . The bane of miscommunication between different healthcare professionals involved in caring for an individual patient , can be prevented . More rapid diagnosis and intervention and care can be customised for each patient .

Electronic health records can be interoperable Blockchain has the capacity to provide one transaction level where organisations can transmit and share data through a system that is secured by storing a specific set of standardised data on the chain , with encrypted links to information stored seperately using images .

Seamless connectivity is made possible using side or child chains of smart contracts and uniform authorisation protocols . Side or child chains are further developments to enhance blockchains speed and capability .

Data security The secure features offered by blockchain can help protect health information more efficiently . Each patient has a public identifier or key and a private key , which can be unlocked only as and for an assigned period .

mHealth and remote treatment and monitoring mHealth or mobile health enables electronic medical records ( EMRs ) to be kept secure in a blockchain network and the data can be rapidly transmitted to medical personnel , and the patient can do self-monitoring and be remotely treated .

Traceability of medical supplies Blockchain enables traceability and transparency of pharmaceutical supplies . It can provide as part of UN ’ s SGDs monitoring of the labour costs so no forced or child labour is used and carbon footprint involved in the manufacturing of these supplies .

Health insurance claims Because of blockchain ’ s immutability , it can present real time medical occurances without the opportunity of data being changed later for fraudulent purposes .

‘ Fort Knox ’ for genomics Genomic data theft from using Dna sequencing has been an endless malady without end until blockchain came into the picture and put an end to it . Scientists can now buy online genomic data to do research . Selling can be done safely and without intermediaries .

ESG Vision ’ s aspiration Blockchain technology like other technologies has been accelerated in its application during the pandemic and healthcare has very much benefitted from it . There are certain hiccups and teething problems in any innovation or technology like interoperability and privacy issues but suffice to say , the ongoing work-in-progress solution is hoped to provide further endorsement on the efficaciousness of the technology during these adverse times . — The Health

Zulkifli Ahmad is the founder of ESG Vision , a think tank advocating ideas on ESG and sustainability .