At the core of MedicalChain is the idea that medical data should be accessible by doctor and patient alike. Currently, individual records are housed in local hospitals and clinics. This makes it difficult for providers to update information efficiently and leaves the individual patient out of the equation. The best way to achieve updated medical information is through a digital platform both doctor and patient can access for payments, health updates and prescription ordering. The platform is built on a system of secure, distributed transactions that patients can view like a ledger. The records can’t be altered because the platform assigns time stamping and numbered sequences to each record, called blocks. The MedicalChain app allows access to the records anywhere in the world by digital key holders.
Since the app works with the patient as the central figure, they can allow and forbid access to clinicians, insurers, pharmacists and anyone they give permission to. Patients can request second opinions or allow certain doctors to write prescriptions to an encrypted page. A pharmacist with access could fill the prescription and take payment through the app. The data is stored on multiple servers that work on the same blockchain consensus, called nodes. Each one encrypts a portion of the blockchain ledger and records every transaction or change to the patient account, preventing unauthorized uses. It uses Hyperledger’s language to determine domain model for the network.
Token Economics
The MedicalChain ecosystem works through digital tokens. The ICO offered up 500 million in MedTokens for use on MedicalChain. The tokens can be used by research institutions to pay individuals for access to their health data used in trials. The tokens are also used to pay for medical services by hospitals using MedicalChain resources. Computer operators on the network (nodes) are also paid in tokens for maintaining the ledger. Physicians are also paid in tokens for answering patient questions and participating in telemedicine consultations.
B2C Digital Health Adopters
The ideal adopter of this technology is a patient that travels often. The accessibility of the secure web portal makes staying on top of personal medical information easy when out of the patient’s country of origin. The telemedicine consultations allow those in foreign countries access to a doctor that speaks their language.
A second type if adopter might be a family in a country without access to a hospital but with decent communications (internet, phone). They can get advice from experts and pay for services from their accounts with the tokens. The token value isn’t determined by a weak currency either, it retains its value in relation to services on the app.
A third type is anyone with a long history of medical problems and disparate records. The difficulty of collecting years of hospital visits, payments and medicine is made easier by adding it to a secure database protected by blockchain technology.
B2B Adopters
MedicalChain could add insurance providers and third party outfits like medical device companies and gyms to their ecosystem. With the tokens, patients could be rewarded for going with a low cost service provider recommended by MedicalChain. One can imagine the possibilities of discounts getting larger for patients as the number of companies signed on grows.
The biggest advantage of blockchain technology is the security of the records for individual users. Security is a major concern in the healthcare industry since so much medical information is required (legally) to be kept private. Hospitals and clinics value patient confidentiality and demand secure networks.
The potential for efficient patient care shows blockchains have a real value in the healthcare industry. If enough hospitals partner with groups offering centralized record keeping it could be the new norm for medicine and treatment.
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Brennan is a blockchain technical adviser in the healthcare sector and blockchain entrepreneur who has worked on developing proprietary concepts for both artificial intelligence and enterprise blockchain. He is a graduate of Rutgers University School of Health Professions where he earned a M.S. in biomedical informatics.
