Tag: healthcare technology

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Blockchain Healthcare Providers Patients

Blockchain: Reimagining the Future of Health Data

It’s time for us to reimagine the future of healthcare information technology. More specifically, it’s time for us to rethink the management of personal health information, i.e. data from electronic health records (EHRs) and wearable devices. Data will continue to drive the technology that is becoming increasingly intertwined in our everyday lives and this remains especially true for healthcare.

From internet-enabled medical devices to fitness trackers, developments in digital health are creating new opportunities for comprehensive patient care and raising new questions about the ethical management of healthcare data. At Patientory, we believe the correct application of blockchain technology will allow us to effectively take advantage of these opportunities and provide answers to some of these questions.

Challenges for Comprehensive Care

Despite the advent of EHRs, medical records still suffer from a lack of interoperability. IT systems are often siloed and unique to the provider, which means a large amount of time and resources are spent simply requesting, sending, and compiling health information. This makes it challenging to create a comprehensive picture of an individual’s health across multiple providers, especially when there are variations in insurance coverage and geographic location over time.

Additionally, we are starting to see an increase in clinicians relying on patient-generated health data in conjunction with clinical data. This type of information includes health histories, symptoms, lifestyle choices, biometrics, etc., and can better inform care decisions because it provides valuable insight into an individual’s overall health and well-being in between medical visits. While patient portals and EHRs allow for a small portion of this data to be compiled, today’s technologies could be leveraged more effectively to improve health outcomes.

Challenges for Healthcare Data Management

In addition to being siloed, legacy healthcare IT systems are often aging and lacking in robust cybersecurity measures. Hospitals are particularly appealing targets for cyberattacks because their daily operations rely heavily on up-to-date information from electronic medical records,  and stolen health information is worth ten times more than a credit card number on the black market. And the more an EHR is fragmented across multiple providers, the higher the patient’s risk of personal data being exposed to people with malicious intent.

Since all of a provider’s EHRs are stored in one place, a successful breach will give a hacker access to all of that information at once. What’s especially troubling about this is that individuals have little control over the storage of their own personal health data and can do little to prevent this. There is an overall lack of patient control when it comes to the access and use of their own medical data, and this reflects broader societal questions about data management. Legislation, including HIPAA, simply has not caught up to the growing role of data in our lives.

Blockchain as a Solution

When applied to EHRs, blockchain can potentially address these issues. A blockchain consists of encrypted blocks of data that are immutable and linked together chronologically in a chain. In a healthcare setting, these blocks of data could be doctor’s appointments, surgical procedures, x-ray images, prescriptions, blood test results, patient-generated health data, etc. Copies of the blockchain would be distributed across a specified network of users and any additions to the chain would be updated for all users in real-time. Individuals would be in charge of sharing the decryption key for their own associated blocks of data with their chosen healthcare provider(s).

With a distributed application like Patientory’s, individuals would have access to a comprehensive picture of their health that includes compiled data from EHRs and wearable devices. Breaking the silos of traditional medical record storage would not only make the process of sharing EHRs significantly easier, but also result in more robust security. By integrating with PTOYNet distributed and decentralized blockchain network our application is able to adhere to both HIPAA and robust security standards.

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Blockchain

Blockchain: Unlocking Healthcare Data to Empower Patients and Improve Care

“Blockchain has the power to: a) reduce costs and increase operational efficiency, b) build trust while improving the quality of comprehensive care and c) empower individuals to take charge of their health. It’s time for us to reimagine the future of healthcare information technology.”

– From Blockchain: Unlocking Healthcare Data to Empower Patients and Improve Care

In a recent blog post for the Healthcare Information & Management Systems Society (HIMSS), Patientory CEO Chrissa McFarlane shares her vision for the application of blockchain to healthcare data. If correctly implemented, blockchain technology could help empower patients and improve care by providing these specific benefits:

  • Aggregated personal health information
  • Improved data security and integrity
  • Patient-centered control of data access and use

To learn more about how Patientory’s distributed application contributes to these goals, click here.

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Healthcare Providers Patients

The True Potential of Patient-Generated Health Data

There is no doubt that aggregated health data will continue to shape the future of healthcare. There are vast amounts of data available in today’s society, and health researchers are tapping into it to advance medical science. Large sets of data are regularly compiled and analyzed, and the findings are used to predict epidemics, cure diseases, provide better preventative care, and lower healthcare costs, among other positive things. The widespread adoption of electronic health records and the increasing prevalence of internet-enabled medical devices are creating even more opportunities for valuable data collection. While this unlocks very exciting possibilities for healthcare scientists and providers, where does the patient fit into all of this?

Patient-generated health data (PGHD) is defined by The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology as “health-related data created, recorded, or gathered by or from patients (or family members or other caregivers) to help address a health concern.” This includes health and treatment histories, symptoms, lifestyle choices, biometric data, etc. When used in conjunction with existing clinical data, PGHD can provide additional insight into an individual’s overall health and better inform decisions made by care providers. The use and sharing of PGHD can gather important information about an individual’s well-being between medical visits, allow for shared decision-making in preventive and chronic care management, and ultimately improve the cost, quality, and coordination of care.

Trust between patients and providers is a cornerstone of the medical profession and higher levels of trust result in improved health outcomes. In the Digital Health Technology Vision 2018, Accenture found that ninety-four percent of health executives believe that treating customers as partners is important or very important for gaining consumer trust. By its very nature, PGHD creates a valuable opportunity for an individual to become a true partner in their own care. Through the process of supplying data the provider would not have access to otherwise, the patient is given a voice and empowered to actively engage in their health. The power of this voice is further supported by today’s wellness apps, wearables, and fitness trackers, which are increasing consumer engagement with personal health data. However, as with any opportunity, there are potential challenges that need to be addressed.

First of all, electronic health records (EHRs) suffer from a lack of interoperability. The major benefit of PGHD is it can supplement the information found in EHRs to provide a more comprehensive picture of an individual’s health. This benefit cannot be fully realized if patient data is fragmented and siloed across multiple providers and IT systems. Another concern is data privacy and security. We are faced with the reality of hackers and data breaches almost daily, and consumers will be less willing to provide PGHD if they believe their personal information is at risk. Patientory’s distributed application uses blockchain technology to address these concerns and empowers individuals to compile and manage their own health information from multiple providers and wearable devices. They can then securely share their comprehensive health picture with the healthcare provider(s) of their choice, which allows all stakeholders to benefit from the use of PGHD. Learn more about our solution here.

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Blockchain Events

Blockchain Panels from ConV2X Now Available for Listening

Patientory attended ConVerge2Xcelerate in October, a healthcare modernization event that brought together the foremost innovators and leaders in blockchain technology, telehealth, AI, and other technologies. The intention of the conference was to address the most compelling issues, growth opportunities, and financial implications of these technologies for the healthcare industry.

Patientory CEO Chrissa McFarlane spoke on two different blockchain-focused panels at the event. The full audio for both panels is now available from Blockchain in Healthcare Today. Follow the links below to listen to the discussions.

Panel 1: Tokens & The Internet of Value: Blending Game Theory, Computer Science, Psychology, and Economics

Panel 2: Data Sharing? The Case for Blockchain at the Global Convergence of Healthcare, Life Sciences, and Consumer Markets

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Public Health

Lessons in Health Data Management from the General Data Protection Regulation

This year, in the European Union, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect. The GDPR is groundbreaking legislation for consumer rights when it comes to data protection. We all create data everywhere we go with our internet-enabled devices, but the use of that data is still largely unregulated. The GDPR was enacted to ensure that organizations comply with the following actions:

  • Fully inform consumers about the type of data being collected
  • Obtain explicit consent from consumers to gather their data
  • Allow consumers to access their data and request corrections
  • Give consumers the option to withdraw their consent at any time

When it comes to gathering and using health data specifically, Patientory believes these actions are vital to maintaining trust between patients and providers. Today’s electronic medical records struggle with issues of interoperability and cybersecurity, and we need to reimagine the future of health information management. This is why we developed our distributed application: to empower individual consumers to easily manage and control access to their own health data. Join us.

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Blockchain Public Health

Blockchain and Public Health: Estonia’s Experience

Did you know that the country of Estonia uses blockchain technology to ensure healthcare data security and electronic medical record integrity? Ninety-nine percent of patients have a countrywide digital record that integrates data from Estonia’s different healthcare providers to create a comprehensive record each patient can access online. One of the country’s technology partners, Nortal, writes more about Estonia’s use of blockchain here.

By providing individual citizens with a fully transparent and accurate view of their medical data, Estonia is empowering patients to take control of their health. While the scale and complexity of the United States’ healthcare system makes this more challenging to accomplish, Patientory believes patient-centered blockchain technology can lead the way in facilitating more effective health data practices.

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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 Events

Women in HIT Are a Driving Force Behind Blockchain Technology

 

The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) recently hosted a webinar titled Women in Blockchain: Making a Difference in Healthcare through Distributed Ledger Technology. Patientory Founder & CEO Chrissa McFarlane was one of the three women in Healthcare Information Technology (HIT) featured, alongside Emily Vaughn of Change Healthcare and Heather Flannery of Blockchain in Healthcare Global.

These three women are considered to be “influential thought-leaders working with blockchain technology,” according to HIMSS. The webinar session covered their respective experiences breaking into the male-dominated field of blockchain and their applications of the technology to healthcare. Read more about how these women have become a driving force behind blockchain technology in 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

Why Critical Healthcare Infrastructure Needs Blockchain: Thoughts on Cybersecurity from Patientory’s CEO

Hospital surgery emergency operating room surgical liquid drip equipment photo.

“The reality is that cyber-attacks have become significantly more sophisticated. Those who manage healthcare IT systems must start to seriously look at improving technologies used to protect the security of sensitive medical data and safeguard ongoing patient care.”

In an article on healthcare cybersecurity, Patientory CEO Chrissa McFarlane writes about the increase in cyber-attacks on healthcare organizations the past few years, the challenges faced by current healthcare IT systems, and the future of blockchain as a service to address these issues.

Blockchain is very difficult for hackers to breach for usable information. It can also be used to empower consumers to take control of their health data and securely share sensitive medical data. Read the full article here.