In this new blog series, we are going to approach a subject we have hesitated to delve into. \u00a0First, it is very complicated, and second it is very controversial \u2013 Blockchain Technology (BTC). \u00a0The reason for the controversy is that it is the base technology used, in fact developed, for cryptocurrencies. \u00a0Yes, those like Bitcoins, and later Litecoin, Ethereum, Ripple and the likes.<\/p>\n
If you are in any business ranging from finance to shipping, inventory and supply chain management, to government documents and healthcare, you cannot avoid reading or hearing how businesses could be impacted using Blockchain in the near future.<\/p>\n
My personal and business relationships have opinions all over the road on cryptocurrencies. \u00a0Some think this is the biggest bubble since the Tulip bubble in Holland in 1936-1937; others believe it will cause the end of the (currently issued) fiat currency offered by central banks.<\/p>\n
I have been reading and discussing the subject of Blockchain for the past two years. \u00a0Some think that it will transform healthcare by connecting all devices and putting the personal health record (PHR) on the internet via a blockchain; however, I think we are far from anything quite that bold. \u00a0First, let\u2019s explain what is a blockchain.<\/p>\n
Blockchain Technology was invented in 2008 however, it only came into the public conversation when Bitcoin launched.\u00a0 Blockchain is the common short title for the underlying base technology plan. \u00a0It is Distributive Ledger Technology (DLT), which is quite simply a technology platform that allows digital information to be distributed, not copied. \u00a0This means, each individual piece of data can only have one owner however, it can exist in many locations. \u00a0This ingenious process then provides a true safety net in that any change to any individual block in the blockchain flags an error and invalidates the chain until it is resolved.<\/p>\n
Blockchain was invented by Satoshi Nakamoto (probably a pseudonym) in 2008 to serve as the public transaction ledger of the cryptocurrency bitcoin. \u00a0The invention of the blockchain for bitcoin made it the first digital currency to solve the double-spending problem without the need of a trusted authority or central server. \u00a0The bitcoin design has inspired an array of other applications.<\/p>\n
You may hear it described as a \u201cdigital ledger\u201d stored in a distributed network. \u00a0Blockgeeks<\/em><\/strong> has a good analogy to help understand how Blockchain works:<\/p>\n \u201cPicture a spreadsheet that is duplicated thousands of times across a network of computers. Then imagine that this network is designed to regularly update this spreadsheet and you have a basic understanding of the blockchain.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The information in the \u201cledger\u201d or \u201cspreadsheet\u201d is constantly reconciled into the database, which is stored in multiple locations and updated instantly. \u00a0That means the records are public and verifiable. \u00a0Since there\u2019s no central location, it is harder to hack since the info exists simultaneously in millions of places.<\/p>\n A block is a record of a new transaction. \u00a0When a block is completed, it\u2019s validated and then added to the chain.<\/p>\n For example, Bitcoin owners have a private password (a complex key) to an address on the chain, which is where their ownership is recorded. \u00a0Cryptocurrency proponents like the distributed storage without a middle man\u200a\u2014\u200ayou don\u2019t need a bank to verify the transfer of money or take a cut of the transaction.<\/p>\n William Mougayar<\/em><\/strong>, author of The Business Blockchain<\/strong>, described it this way:<\/p>\n \u201cImagine two entities (e.g., banks) that need to update their own user account balances when there is a request to transfer money from one customer to another. They need to spend a tremendous (and costly) amount of time and effort for coordination, synchronization, messaging and checking to ensure that each transaction happens exactly as it should. Typically, the money being transferred is held by the originator until it can be confirmed that it was received by the recipient. With the blockchain, a single ledger of transaction entries that both parties have access to can simplify the coordination and validation efforts because there is always a single version of records, not two disparate databases.\u201d<\/p>\n As each transaction occurs \u2013 and the parties agree to its details \u2013 it\u2019s encoded into a block of digital data and uniquely signed or identified. \u00a0Each block is connected to the one before and after it \u2014 creating an irreversible, immutable and unduplicatable chain.\u00a0 Blocks are chained together, preventing any block from being altered or a block being inserted between two existing blocks.<\/p>\n Now that we have that out of the way, we will discuss healthcare opportunities with Blockchain Technology. \u00a0I will give you a short preview. \u00a0We are convinced that there will be valuable solutions in Blockchain for healthcare. \u00a0However, there will be a warning, Blockchain will likely not solve the basic underlying problems of healthcare.\u00a0 Over the last six months, I\u2019ve been in conversations with innovators and entrepreneurs that believe that patients and providers will use Blockchain Technology to fully interact, and even pay for services. \u00a0They believe that many applications, that are today paper or electronic, will be using the blockchain. \u00a0Some think that prescriptions and even provider credentialing will be in the blockchain. \u00a0Many tech companies are exploring with payors and\/or hospitals to use Blockchain.<\/p>\n The reality is that Blockchain is not the solution for everything. \u00a0Some things in healthcare are working well and can be improved under current technology. \u00a0The one problem with Blockchain Technology in healthcare is that no specific entity owns it really, so if something were to go wrong, there is no one to hold accountable and this is a big problem for regulatory agencies such as the SEC for instance.<\/p>\n Here is one clear example \u2013 we have a built and certified an EHR in the U.S. today, based on current regulations; however, you cannot get a Blockchain EHR certified in the U.S., period. \u00a0That does not mean there are not real opportunities in healthcare for the blockchain and even for a Personal Wellness Blockchain Record.\u2122 \u00a0In our next blog, we will discuss the natural potential uses for Blockchain Technology in healthcare.\u00a0 The headline is that Blockchain has legitimate value in healthcare, and over time, as we become more experienced with the internet, it is likely that we will see many applications and uses, some we can foresee and others are over the horizon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In this new blog series, we are going to approach a subject we have hesitated to delve into. \u00a0First, it is very complicated, and second it is very controversial \u2013 Blockchain Technology (BTC). \u00a0The reason for the controversy is that it is the base technology used, in fact developed, for cryptocurrencies. \u00a0Yes, those like Bitcoins, and later Litecoin, Ethereum, Ripple and the likes. If you are in any business ranging from finance to shipping, inventory and supply chain management, to government documents and healthcare, you cannot avoid reading or hearing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":3853,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[340,342,341,50,51,41],"class_list":["post-3850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-blockchain-technology","tag-blockgeeks","tag-distributive-ledger-technology","tag-ehr","tag-emr","tag-healthcare"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/pwer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/AdobeStock_194262695.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3850"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/pwer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3880,"href":"https:\/\/pwer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3850\/revisions\/3880"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}