Category: Healthcare Providers

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Blockchain Healthcare Providers Patients

The Accenture Digital Health Technology Vision 2018: Trust and Responsibility

As technology becomes more deeply embedded in our lives, healthcare organizations are increasingly applying new technologies and innovations to deliver personalized, efficient, and informed care. The Accenture Digital Health Technology Vision 2018 emphasizes the need for healthcare providers to prioritize trust and responsibility in order for people to receive the full benefits of digitally enabled healthcare services.

The report explores five specific trends: Extended Reality, Frictionless Business, Internet of Thinking, Citizen AI, and Data Veracity. The first three are considered the enablers of an intelligent healthcare enterprise while the latter two are considered the consequences. Blockchain is primarily considered a part of the Frictionless Business trend. Ninety-one percent of health executives believe blockchain and smart contracts will be critical for their organization over the next three years. Read more about Patientory’s application of blockchain to healthcare here.

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Blockchain Healthcare Providers

Blockchain: The Defender of Healthcare Organizations against Cybercriminals

There has been a surge the past few years in ransomware attacks, one of the most problematic threats to cybersecurity. Cybercriminals are earning hundreds of thousands of dollars every month by deploying malware that locks victims’ computer files until a ransom fee is paid. There is a harrowing pattern found recently in these crimes: the targeting of hospitals and healthcare organizations. According to a 2016 report by NTT Security, a major cybersecurity firm, 88 percent of all detected ransomware attacks were against the firm’s healthcare clients, despite the fact that healthcare organizations made up only 7.4 percent of the firm’s client base. There have been numerous occurrences to evidence this trend over the last few years. Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center declared an “internal emergency” after ransomware left patient files inaccessible by employees. Hancock Health, a hospital in Greenfield, Indiana, had more than 1,400 files locked with names changed to “I’m sorry” until a ransom was paid. The largest recent ransomware attack severely disrupted the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), forcing 45 NHS organizations to cancel operations and appointments. Unfortunately, this story goes on and on.   

So what makes hospitals and other healthcare facilities such appealing targets? Their daily operations completely depend on up-to-date information from electronic medical records. Healthcare providers need quick access to patient histories, drug allergies, surgery directives, and other critical information to provide the appropriate care. This means hospitals are more likely to pay ransom fees to avoid the risks of death or malpractice accusations brought on by delays in patient care. Additionally, medical data is extremely valuable. In fact, stolen health information is worth ten times more than a credit card number on the dark web. Fraudsters can use names, birth dates, billing information, policy numbers, and diagnosis codes to create fake medical identities that allow them to buy medical equipment and drugs or file fictional insurance claims. Finally, healthcare operations are often known for their aging legacy IT infrastructure and a focus on HIPAA compliance instead of employing robust IT security practices. These two factors also contribute to the lack of interoperability across healthcare providers and institutions, which makes securely sharing accurate, comprehensive medical data especially challenging.

Another trend found across these ransomware attacks is the request by cybercriminals for the ransoms to be paid in Bitcoin. Ironically, the technology that supports Bitcoin is also the most promising solution for the security of electronic medical records: Blockchain. Blockchain’s association with hackers gives blockchain an undeservedly bad reputation. Blockchain is not inherently evil, it is simply an effective tool that lazy criminals find easy to use. In fact, blockchain is an especially effective tool to fight against the hackers threatening health data security in exchange Bitcoins. This is true because blockchain is a distributed ledger or public record, that can store multiple copies of the same encrypted data across a network of users on multiple devices. When a hacker breaches a traditional database, they have access to large quantities of information. When a hacker breaches a blockchain, however, they only have access to one or two blocks of siloed data without the important context of the full blockchain.

As one might be able to tell from above, using blockchain to secure medical records would deter hackers from launching cyber-attacks because they would be unable to obtain any valuable health information. This would help healthcare organizations become much less appealing targets for cybercrimes and empower patients to take control of their medical data with a distributed application like Patientory’s. Our blockchain-based platform ensures end-to-end encryption of sensitive medical data and allows patients to decide who can access that information and for what purpose. We envision a future where blockchain has defeated the reign of ransomware and become a key defender of healthcare security.

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Blockchain Healthcare Providers

How the Public Health Can Maintain the Integrity of Medical Records with Blockchain Technology

There is a timeless issue that has always challenged healthcare institutions: how can accurate medical data be shared securely among the providers and patients who need access to it? Although the digital age has moved us far away from cumbersome paper records, electronic health records (EHRs) still result in inefficiencies. The interoperability among healthcare data systems has traditionally relied on three different methods of information exchange. Push is used when a provider sends information to another provider, Pull is used when a provider requests information from another provider, and View is used when a provider views information inside another provider’s system. Although technologically functional, each of these methods is used vary across institutions and geographic locations, subject to different state laws and local practice standards. This makes it difficult for policymakers to effectively govern the complicated transmission of medical records and there is no standardized audit trail that ensures the integrity of medical data from the point of generation to the point of use.

A broad spectrum of data is collected and utilized in healthcare and the integrity of this data is of the utmost importance. Health data identifies and tracks patients as they move through healthcare systems, informing providers and ensuring that the right patient receives the right care at the right time. It is absolutely vital for this information to be accurate, consistent, and complete. With the prevalence of EHRs, a lack of data transmission standards, and rising cybersecurity concerns, integrity-based threats to medical records are very possible. A malicious party, either inside or outside a healthcare institution, can modify data such as drug allergy information in an untraceable way. The inability to track and verify changes not only puts patients at risk but threatens institutional trust and credibility.

Fortunately, there is a fourth method of information exchange that can be employed to address these issues and ensure the integrity of medical records. Despite its origins related to Bitcoin and the associated skepticism of cryptocurrency, blockchain technology is quickly becoming a viable solution to various societal problems. Applications for its use are being explored across industries, such as financial services, food systems, government, and healthcare. Blockchain, also referred to as distributed ledger technology, is essentially an unchangeable, decentralized record of transactions. There is not a singular owner of information but a peer network in which multiple stakeholders contribute blocks of information that are chronologically connected to the ones before, creating a chain of blocks. The blocks are unable to be removed or edited, resulting in a comprehensive, tamper-proof record of information.

The opportunity for ensuring medical record integrity is clear. Once health data is generated and verified, it can be added to the blockchain with the confidence of knowing it cannot be tampered with. Having a blockchain system like Patientory’s in place creates a record of changes to health data that can be reviewed to see who made what changes and when. In addition to maintaining the integrity of health data, this provides a comprehensive health picture to providers and empowers patients to take charge of their medical records. As a result of Patientory’s blockchain technology, individuals will be able to efficiently access their aggregated health information and securely share it across institutions and healthcare providers, ensuring their accurate personal health data is used in the right way for the right reasons.

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Healthcare Providers

New Pew Report Examines Ways to Improve Sharing of Patient Records Across Different Healthcare Institutions

The widespread use of electronic health records (EHRs) has helped care providers form more complete health pictures for their patients. However, accurately linking a patient’s medical records across different health institutions remains a challenge. Up to 50 percent of patients may be matched incorrectly when records are sent between healthcare facilities. In a new report, the Pew Charitable Trusts examined possible solutions to this problem by gathering insights from patient focus groups, interviews with doctors and hospital executives, and conversations with experts.

Overall, Pew concluded there is no singular solution. However, there are several short- and long-term steps government, EHR vendors, and hospitals could make to significantly improve matching rates. For example, in the short term, the agency that oversees EHRs, The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, can help standardize how demographic data is recorded. In the long term, biometrics such as fingerprints or iris scans could be used to link medical records. Achieving the goal of a truly interoperable health care system is possible, but it will require action across stakeholders in the healthcare industry.

Read more about the report here.

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Healthcare Providers Patients

Patientory CEO Speaks on How New Blockchain Solutions Can Solve Old Healthcare Problems

Last Thursday, September 13th, Bloomberg hosted a live event on ‘The Value of Data: How Emerging Technologies are Redefining Our Future.’ Patientory CEO and Founder Chrissa McFarlane was invited to speak on a panel discussing how blockchain can be utilized to solve global social challenges such as plastic pollution, foodborne illnesses, and consumer access to healthcare. This panel also featured representatives from IBM, Walmart, and the United Nations.

When people hear the word ‘blockchain’, they often think of cryptocurrency, a digital form of currency that has gained notoriety due to the growth of companies such as Bitcoin. This association of blockchain with cryptocurrency usually results in consumer skepticism and concern, as cryptocurrency is currently a very nascent and unregulated currency basis. Blockchain, however, has far greater applications than just cryptocurrency, specifically regarding security and transparency of data transactions and exchanges. To better understand these applications, it’s important to define what exactly blockchain is.

According to Forbes magazine, ‘Blockchain is a public register in which transactions between two users belonging to the same network are stored in a secure, verifiable and permanent way. The data relating to the exchanges are saved inside cryptographic blocks, connected in a hierarchical manner to each other. This creates an endless chain of data blocks — hence the name blockchain — that allows you to trace and verify all the transactions you have ever made. The primary function of a blockchain is, therefore, to certify transactions between people.”

From this definition, one can see how blockchain is a technology that allows users to securely and visibly complete transactions or data exchanges. One such use case can be found in the global food supply chain. Following a number of scandals in food production, most infamously the European horse meat scandal in 2013, where foods advertised as containing beef were found to contain undeclared or improperly declared horse meat, trust in global conglomerates’ ability to track the source of all its food products was at an all-time low. This mistrust led IBM to partner with Walmart, Unilever, Nestle and six other large companies in 2016 to release the Food Trust blockchain to track food through supply chains around the world. This created an immutable record of the food production cycle of every single item of produce on a blockchain. Consumers, as a result, could trust that they are buying and eating the produce they believe they are.

As seen in the food safety example, the implications of blockchain are powerful and can be just as powerful in healthcare as in food safety. Currently, consumer access to their healthcare data is a real challenge and a long-standing one at that. While gone are the days of paper charts, as much of healthcare data today is digitized and electronic, many healthcare providers do not have a way to share and grant access to such data for consumers securely. That’s where blockchain comes in.

In the healthcare industry, blockchain technology can help healthcare providers securely allow consumers to access and view their data, empowering consumers to have far greater ownership and management of their health. Additionally, blockchain enables healthcare providers to be compliant in meeting the GDPR and HIPAA regulations, two significant hurdles that have prevented consumers from successfully accessing their healthcare data.

Blockchain technology is not just about cryptocurrency or Bitcoin or fledging digital currency markets. It’s a solution that can indeed change the landscape of healthcare, not to mention many other global social problems. This technology has arrived – now is the time for healthcare providers and institutions to be open to adopting it, as the health of their patient communities depends on it.

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Healthcare Providers Patients

Addressing Healthcare Consumer Access and Data Ownership with Blockchain

 

The Challenge with Healthcare Data Ownership

The digital era has shepherded in new challenges and opportunities in healthcare. The shift from handwritten medical notes to electronic health records has raised important questions about access, shareability, and ownership of health-related information. Today, the vast majority of healthcare providers use electronic health records that afford consumers the ability to view and download health data created at those institutions.

Given that medical records rely on and are personal to individual consumers, it is intuitive to assume that those consumers own their medical data. However, due in part to intellectual property laws and the fact that medical records tend to include professional medical opinions, data ownership tends to legally reside with the creator or author of the record itself. The specific data ownership laws differ from state to state, but federal law provides consumers with rights related to the security and privacy of their health data.

Progress and Grey Areas in Democratizing Data

The progress made thus far in helping consumers access their health data will likely prove invaluable in helping to engage consumers in their healthcare and thereby empowering them to lead healthier lives. Consumers do indeed have the right not only to view their records but also to obtain those records in the format of their choosing. Providing consumers access to this health data also empower healthcare providers to get a more holistic view of consumer health-data, which can improve clinical decision-making. From a health perspective, consumer access to data appears to be headed in the right direction.

While consumer health is the priority in healthcare, another issue related to consumer data that has not yet been adequately solved is the use of consumer data as digital assets. If healthcare providers who own consumer data de-identify that data or remove the personal information attached to that data, then the data is no longer protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). What that means is that the owners of this valuable data can sell it without compensating the consumers, without whom, the data would not exist.

Ideally, consumers could not only access and review their medical records but also share it with healthcare providers and other third parties, and sell it to, for example, pharmaceutical companies or clinical research organizations. These goals are central to the White House’s Precision Medicine Initiative, which aims to make health data portable and conveniently shareable. However, even as consensus grows around the goals for consumer health data, there is one major challenge associated with this democratization of data ownership. That is, effectively decentralizing health data requires security measures that ensure that the added layer of transparency is not accompanied by an ability for people to alter the data.

Patientory Leverages Blockchain as a Solution

Patientory’s blockchain approach provides a solution to this healthcare data security challenge while also driving down costs through lower transaction fees and overhead. Like blockchain strategies that have been heavily and successfully adopted in the finance industry, Patientory’s blockchain will provide a decentralized database where information can be rapidly updated and accessible to a multitude of users. Patientory’s semantic technology will help healthcare providers and consumers alike as they work together to understand and improve health from cradle to grave.

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Healthcare Providers Patients

A Bird’s Eye View on the Patientory, Inc. Software

Patientory, Inc.

[ATLANTA – April 3, 2018 ]

Patientory, Inc. is currently solving the elephant in the room that has been plagued by the healthcare industry for years;  access and mobility of healthcare data. By combining the best of both worlds (blockchain and health data management), we’re able to provide software that will improve the efficiency and efficacy of the healthcare system. Whether that’s collecting and analyzing data from a heart monitor to sharing fluoroscopy diagnostic results from multiple specialists, Patientory, Inc. which develops the distributed application software allowing users to access their health data integrates with the PTOY blockchain administered and managed by the Patientory Stiftung on the backend.

To achieve this, the PTOY blockchain is governed as a private permissioned blockchain via a consortium membership of data storage nodes. Permissioned blockchains not only come with all the benefits of blockchain but also guarantees authority over parties authorized to join, view and make use of the network. The information transfer happens within the PTOY permissioned blockchain network hence it makes the data exchanges faster and readily accessible.

So, is blockchain the one pill for healthcare’s woes? Maybe not. However, the use of the blockchain infrastructure to integrate into the workflows of the health system and provide secure data through a network ecosystem can prove to save the industry costs with improved health outcomes. In 2017, the cost of diabetes rose to $327B. 73% of this cost is attributed to direct health care expenditures and inefficiencies.

As the PTOY blockchain is a fork of the Ethereum based blockchain, there still remains a few bottlenecks, like slow transaction times, scalability issues, data storage, consensus optimization.etc. However, besides the above mentioned cons, the improvements are happening at an astonishing pace with solutions that are easily adaptable to business and enterprise environments. We hope to establish and foster a developer community that is very supportive and active in addressing the issues to make the platform more robust once the PTOY blockchain codebase is released by the Patientory Stiftung.

1American Diabetes Association. Diabetes Care. 2018;doi:10.2337/dci18-0007

Bright future

Patientory, Inc. is connecting the best of both worlds – blockchain and health data management.  The Patientory, Inc wallet software that incorporates the PTOY blockchain network ensures the access to electronic health and medical data information to regulate and make use of the data available to build consumer centric and feature-rich applications for patients, hospitals, and insurance companies. Our mobile wallet, app and web portal access serves to unlock the limitless potential of healthcare data usage for the future.

 

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Healthcare Providers Patients

Patientory Exhibits at HIMSS18

Demos platform that connects physicians, care providers and patients in one place using encryption-based blockchain technology

[ATLANTA – February 24, 2018 ]

IMSS18, Booth #9900-55, #11955 – Blockchain healthcare company, Patientory, is exhibiting at HIMSS18 and is offering demos of its platform that centralizes medical records for doctors, care providers, and consumers. Patientory is one of two blockchain companies participating in the HIMSS Interoperability Showcase™ – a premier 30,000-square-foot exhibition that demonstrates the interoperability imperative for connecting health and care, March 5-9 in Las Vegas.

Currently, patients do not have an efficient way of accessing all of their health information, but Patientory is changing this by revolutionizing the way doctors and patients interact and gain access to medical records, cutting out all the layers and processes that currently act as stumbling blocks in healthcare coordination. Using blockchain technology, Patientory stores medical information on a secure, blockchain platform that allows doctors, care providers, and consumers to be a unified care team and empowers consumers to take control of their health. Patientory’s employment of blockchain technology helps the healthcare ecosystem mitigate damaging data breaches so you don’t have to worry about patient confidentiality.

“We are thrilled to participate in HIMSS, to demo Patientory Core: Part 1 and continue our global mission to transform healthcare and provide a solution that supports better healthcare outcomes through improved data access and management,” Said Patientory CEO and Founder Chrissa McFarlane. “We invite you to visit our booth and see live demos of the mobile app and how the medical information will be presented to healthcare providers and consumers.”

The HIMSS Annual Conference & Exhibition brings together 45,000+ health IT professionals, clinicians, executives and vendors from around the world. Exceptional education, excellent speakers, cutting-edge health IT products and powerful networking are hallmarks of this industry-leading conference.

To learn more about Patientory, please visit www.patientory.com. For additional information about HIMSS or the HIMSS Interoperability Showcase™, please visit www.himssconference.org or HIMSS Interoperability Showcase.

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For more information, please contact:
678.951.9007
info@patientory.com

About Patientory

Patientory is empowering people to take charge of their health. Patientory connects doctors, care providers, and consumers all within a single, secure platform – creating a care team that works together to provide the best care. We’re revolutionizing the way doctors, and patients interact and gain access to information, cutting out all layers and processes that currently are stumbling blocks in care coordination.

About HIMSS

HIMSS is a global voice, advisor and thought leader of health transformation through health information and technology with a unique breadth and depth of expertise and capabilities to improve the quality, safety and efficiency of health, healthcare and care outcomes. HIMSS designs and leverages key data assets, predictive models and tools to advise global leaders, stakeholders and influencers of best practices in health IT so they have the right information at the point of decision.

HIMSS drives innovative, forward thinking around best uses of technology in support of better connected care, improved population health and low cost of care. HIMSS is a not-for-profit, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, with additional offices in North America, Europe, the United Kingdom and Asia.

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Healthcare Providers Patients

Immunization Integration and Interoperability: What Are the Benefits?

By Patientory, an exhibitor at the HIMSS Interoperability Showcase™ at the 2018 HIMSS Global Conference & Exhibition, and Quiana Lloyd, Director of Marketing and Communications

[ATLANTA – February 20, 2018 ] The enormous importance of health IT in the healthcare industry can be underplayed. Daily patient care and interaction would be tedious for healthcare professionals if not for innovations of health IT aimed at ensuring the security of electronic health records (EHR).

It’s no news that patients are becoming increasingly aware and interested in owning their personal health information. With interoperability in place, various healthcare providers have access to a patient’s health information, helping to ensure speed and comprehensiveness of treatment.

Doctors can access a patient’s current medical condition by opening the patient’s EHR to view medical history, treatments, allergies, and prescriptions. This translates into an effective treatment for their patients by reducing potential conflict in prescribed medication, for example. Repetition of risky tests and procedures are significantly reduced with the availability of the test results to various healthcare providers.

Amber’s Story

One patient named Amber will never forget her Hepatitis A and B combination vaccination. It happened just in time to save her from contracting the deadly virus sweeping through San Diego County.

Amber always thought she had gotten all her vaccinations when she was younger and naturally assumed that she had gotten one for the Hepatitis A virus. She had just come in for a regular checkup and was going through routine questions with her resident doctor when she mentioned traveling for a short visit to see her mother based in San Diego.

It then occurred to the doctor – based on the aforementioned virus outbreak in San Diego – to take a look at her medical history. It would have been time-consuming to call up other professionals from various facilities to fax over Amber’s medical records. But thanks to a secure patient platform, Amber could grant her doctor access in minutes to her health information.

Patient platforms empower people to take charge of their health. Patient platforms are revolutionizing the way doctors and patients interact and gain access to information, cutting out all layers and processes that currently are stumbling blocks in care coordination. Patient platforms connect doctors, care providers, and consumers, creating a care team that works together to provide the best care. #healthcare#blockchain#tech#startup#EmpowerHIT

Experience these up-and-coming digital innovations at the HIMSS Interoperability Show-case™.

 

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Healthcare Providers Patients

Blockchain-Healthcare Start-Up Patientory Showcases In Arab Health 2018

Patientory continues to connect the dots with global population health solutions at Arab Health, the largest gathering of healthcare and trade professionals in the MENA region.

[ATLANTA – January 16, 2018 ] Blockchain healthcare company, Patientory, is an exhibitor at the 2018 Arab Health conference. The four-day healthcare conference provides the latest updates and insights into cutting-edge procedures, techniques, and skills. In 2017, there were 4,072 exhibitors, 40 country pavilions, 68 exhibiting countries, 96,925 visitors, and over 102,000 participants!

Founded by medical researcher-turned-entrepreneur Chrissa McFarlane in 2016, Patientory’s blockchain-enabled solution empowers consumers to take charge of their health by providing a highly secure, single platform to share and manage their healthcare information with providers and healthcare organizations.

“We are thrilled to participate in Arab Health and continue our global mission to transform healthcare and provide a solution that supports better healthcare outcomes through improved data access and management,” commented CEO and Founder Chrissa McFarlane.

To learn more about Patientory, please visit www.patientory.com. For additional information about Arab Health or to register for the event, please visit http://bit.ly/2Di8Y4T.

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About Patientory


Patientory is empowering people to take charge of their health. Patientory connects doctors, care providers, and consumers all within a single, secure platform – creating a care team that works together to provide the best care. We’re revolutionizing the way doctors, and patients interact and gain access to information, cutting out all layers and processes that currently are stumbling blocks in care coordination.

About Arab Health

Arab Health is the largest gathering of healthcare and trade professionals in the MENA region. The 2018 edition of the event is expected to welcome more than 4,200 exhibiting companies and 103,000 attendees from 150+ countries.

Accompanying the exhibition will be 19 business, leadership and Continuing Medical Education (CME) conferences providing the very latest updates and insights into cutting-edge procedures, techniques, and skills.

Arab Health 2018 will take place from 29 January – 01 February 2018.