Blockchain Promises To Remove Patient Data Silos

Healthcare specialists increasingly view blockchain technology as a way to streamline the myriad Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) populating the industry. At present, these HIEs are hindering the development of a more interoperable records system. In essence, they serve as information silos created by vendors hoping to lock-in their customers. As a recent Forbes article put it

“(healthcare) privacy remains challenging…(as there are) no uniform architectures and standards to ensure trusted access to… personally identifiable information and safe data exchange between all stakeholders, including patients. It hinders patient engagement due to patients’ limited ownership of their health data, hurts care cooperation between providers from different networks, and also back-pedals population health management since caregivers can’t effectively exchange their insights in a secure way.

Fortunately, blockchain-based data exchanges may lead to the creation of open data standards, a move that would eliminate this reality (even when country-specific regulations appear to pose an obstacle).

So far, only a few blockchain startups have teamed up with medical institutions.  According to Kamran Khan, CEO of blockchain-startup Transio, hospitals pursuing this path are finding IT vendors reluctant to divulge how their proprietary data systems work. These vendors also recognize a common exchange as a threat to both their technology and business revenues. Moreover, hospitals with different HIEs must contend with different patient codes and even different disease-based systems.

As Khan told CoinDesk: “In Boston, there are 27 different systems for only 17 hospitals, and they lack interoperability. This is done on purpose: once the data is out of the siloed system, the hospital can create their own system.”

To solve this problem, hospitals must find a way to persuade vendors to provide full access to the HIE. They must also embrace an open-systems approach to data, a necessary precursor to patients retaining ownership of their medical records. Among blockchain visionaries, it’s this feature that furthers patient-centric healthcare and offers the most compelling benefit. The end result will transform healthcare.

Security As A Prerequisite

The necessary collaboration and transparency needed to revolutionize healthcare require confidence in the blockchain. If the blockchain is to advertise itself as a secure and immutable store of information, it must live up to its billing. Unfortunately, the many 51% attacks occurring within the past year must be giving healthcare specialists second thoughts.

With its Proof-of-Signature consensus method, XTRABYTES™ is impervious to such attacks. And rather than relying on an untrusted, randomly selected peer-to-peer network nodes to sign and create transaction blocks, XTRABYTES relies on a trusted and proprietary STATIC nodes network instead. As such, it’s impossible to hack.

In addition, XTRABYTES code-agnostic nature improves prospects for healthcare system interoperability as well. With these characteristics, expect XTRABYTES to be a key player in resolving healthcare interoperability issues.