Patientory

Electronic Health Record (EHR) adoption rates are soaring, which is fantastic for an industry that is often criticized for being slow to adopt new technology. Less than a decade ago, nine out of ten doctors in the U.S. updated their patients’ records by hand and stored them in color-coded files. By the end of 2017, approximately 90% of office-based physicians nationwide will be using electronic health records (EHRs).

Health records are changing quickly — however, concerns over the privacy and security breaches of EHRs especially electronic protected health information (ePHI) continues to plague the healthcare industry—and the trend shows no signs of abating.

Although little evidence exists with which to gauge the vulnerability of electronic health information to outside attacks – the numbers speak for themselves. More than 25 million patient records were reportedly compromised as of October 2016. And then, in November, the cases spiked: There were 57 health data breaches—the highest of all months in 2016, according to the Protenus Breach Barometer. Data breaches stemmed from hacking, malware and ransomware agents as well breaches caused by inside employees – such as theft of a portable device for example.

Connecting Medical Records

Health and government organizations spend a significant amount of time and money setting up and managing traditional information systems and data exchanges; requiring resources to continuously troubleshoot issues, update field parameters, perform backup and recovery measures, and extract information for reporting purposes.

Federal laws and incentive programs have made healthcare data more accessible, in response to hospital pushback regarding EMR implementation. However, the vast majority of hospital systems still can’t easily (or safely) share their data. You only need to ask your primary care doctor to share information with your allergist or surgeon, to know what a headache this is.

As a result, doctors are spending more time typing than actually talking to patients. Physician burnouts jumped from 45 to 54 percent between 2011 and 2014, according to a Mayo Clinic study.

The new healthcare paradigm demands the need for effective and optimal care delivery for patients to yield better care outcomes. To do this, the most popular strategy circulating among healthcare technologists is blockchain.

There has been a lot of buzz about blockchain transforming healthcare recently. At Patientory, we are building a blockchain powered health information exchange (HIE) that can unlock the true value of interoperability and cyber security.

Our system has the potential to eliminate the friction and costs of current third party intermediaries, when considering population health management. There are promises of improved data integrity, decentralization and disintermediation of trust, and reduced transaction costs.

Being able to coordinate patient care via a blockchain HIE essentially alleviates unnecessary services and duplicate tests with lowering costs and improvements in efficiencies of the continuum care cycle.

Without Compromising on Privacy

Implementation of blockchain technology to ensure and enhance data security for all the medical records associated with the system can achieve zero health breaches and ultimate decentralization of record ownership. The process of encrypting data when sent to database using different algorithms and decrypting it during the retrieval will be used in our solution..

This gives it unprecedented security benefits. Hacking one block in the chain is impossible without simultaneously hacking every other block in the chain’s chronology. This makes blockchain incredibly appealing to the doctors and hospitals that need secure access to a patient’s entire health history.

Now is the right time to take a fresh approach to data sharing in healthcare.  A patient-centered protocol supported by blockchain technology, Patientory is changing the way healthcare stakeholders manage electronic medical data and interact with clinical care teams.

Through use of our mobile app, Patientory users create an individual profile. Their medical information is then stored on a secure, HIPAA-compliant blockchain platform, allowing them to connect with care providers as well as other patients who have similar health issues or concerns. This allows patients greater control over their overall health across multiple care teams, both inside and outside of the hospital.

We’re not only working to fill the gaps in our health system, but we’re looking to play a vital role in the future of healthcare.

Mar 1, 20175:25 PM EST by Michael Scott via bitcoinmagazine.com

With promises on the part of the new Trump administration to reboot Obamacare, the U.S. healthcare system is at a crossroads. Staggering costs, barriers to patient access and quality-of-care concerns underscore the need for innovative solutions to address this key element of America’s future.

One company firmly entrenched in efforts to address many of these prevailing issues is Atlanta-based Patientory. It endeavors to deliver population-health management solutions that assist healthcare organizations in boosting clinical outcomes through physician-coordinated care. Through the use of a patient-centered protocol supported by blockchain technology, Patientory is poised to change the way patients securely manage their health histories and interact with their clinical care teams.

Through use of the company’s mobile app, Patientory users create an individual profile. Their medical information is then stored on a secure, HIPAA-compliant blockchain platform, allowing them to connect with care providers as well as other patients who have similar health issues or concerns. This allows patients greater control over their overall health across multiple care teams, both inside and outside of the hospital.

The company’s genesis is tied to the 2016 inaugural class of the Boomtown Health-Tech Accelerator in Boulder, Colorado. This led to a collaborative exchange with the Denver-based Colorado Permanente Medical Group, part of the Kaiser Permanente consortium, based in Oakland, California.

Despite its startup status, the company has established a deep footprint in the healthcare landscape. For CEO Chrissa McFarlane, who has over 10 years of experience in the industry, Patientory reflects her personal journey and frustration with patients not having access to a central depository of their own health information and to a supportive community.

Facilitating Patient-Centered Care

McFarlane notes that while the Affordable Care Act reflected the Obama government’s effort to create a more unified health system, in the current state of chaos, the solution ultimately boils down to the individual having the necessary resources to make informed decisions regarding their health.

“Our platform is primarily patient focused. We make it easy for patients to connect with their health, which includes their information, caregivers and a peer community of individuals for support. Unfortunately, this has never existed in the U.S. And while other healthcare companies are trying to achieve similar goals, it’s on a very siloed level.”

From a clinical standpoint, the Patientory app makes it easy for a patient care team to interact and share data, including medication and overall health history. Physicians and other care providers can therefore coordinate care over the continuum of a patient’s care journey.

Similarly, patients can interact with all of their physicians at once, in real time, fostering greater coordination of care efficiencies and cost savings. This is a valuable feature for patients with chronic conditions who often deal with a host of physicians, specialists and subspecialists who play a role in their care.

Moreover, the portability of their health records allows a new physician easy access to their health histories, reducing the burdensome take of having to reinvent the wheel whenever a new health provider is contacted.

Security

In light of the growing number of data breaches facing the healthcare industry, blockchain technology’s major value proposition within the healthcare sector revolves around its robust security protocol, which makes HIPAA compliance feasible for both patients and providers.

Built on the belief that decentralized hospital records improve information security, Patientory employs data networking and medical information storage in a manner that allows patients to manage their own health data repositories, thereby improving overall patient care and well-being.

From electronic health information confidentiality to security threats identification to disclosure protection, Patientory’s employment of blockchain technology helps the healthcare ecosystem mitigate damaging data breaches. Unlike electronic health records, which are vulnerable to hacks, blockchain technology is able to utilize a more secure, permanent record of online information exchange.

Greater Efficiency

On a macro level, Patientory’s ability to coordinate care greatly alleviates the occurrence of unnecessary and wasteful services. A care team’s ability to access a patient’s health history decreases the likelihood that they’ll rerun duplicate tests. This can lead to lower costs and greater efficiencies in the overall continuum of care.

“Our primary health moonshot goal is cost to zero,” says McFarlane. “In other words the goal is to radically reduce the cost of care by a factor of a million. By offering automated treatments care plans and coordinated care through a health community network, the industry will see an 85 percent decrease in hospital readmissions/penalties along with zero healthcare breaches through decentralized blockchain technology.”

Concludes McFarlane: “We’re anxious to see the effects of Patientory’s value in the industry, specifically how it improves the quality of life of those suffering from chronic illnesses. The uncertainty for the future of Obamacare breeds hope for blockchain technology startups like Patientory, which seeks to fill the gaps in our health system, empowering the individual patient to take charge of their own health in a proactive way.”

Blockchain has finally reached healthcare and making headlines! However, any healthcare provider that electronically store, process or transmit medical records, medical claims, remittances, or certifications must comply with HIPAA regulations. With Patientory, this not only applies to the provider but to the patient as well.

Fortunately, HIPAA requires that all patients be able access their own medical records, correct errors or omissions, and be informed how personal information is shared used. So why wasn’t Patientory and blockchain created years ago? Patientory’s blockchain application to the health industry will only strengthen security for easier compliance of HIPAA best practices for the patient and provider.

Patientory’s use of blockchain follows HIPAA Security Rules, including but not lmited to:

• Administrative Safeguards – Assignment of a HIPAA security compliance team.
• Physical Safeguards – Protection of electronic systems, equipment and data.
• Technical Safeguards – Authentication & encryption used to control data access.

This ensures covered entities maintain reasonable and appropriate administrative, technical, and physical safeguards for protecting Electronic Protected Health Information (e-PHI), with 0 health breaches.

Specifically, Patientory’s proprietary blockchain technology achieves 0 health breaches by:

1. Ensuring the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of all e-PHI they create, receive, maintain or transmit;
2. Identifying and protecting against reasonably anticipated threats to the security or integrity of the information;
3. Protecting against reasonably anticipated, impermissible uses or disclosures; and
4. Ensures compliance by workforce

Patientory is transforming healthcare, by placing the patient at the center of the health care ecosystem and increasing the security, privacy, and interoperability of health data.