Blockchain technology has had an unprecedented journey of success. More and more economic sectors are implementing its functions in business areas. Now, for some time, supporters of this technology have been increasingly turning their attention to the medical sector.
Table of Contents: What awaits you in this article
Many doctors and patients want more networking?
According to industry insiders, more and more doctors and patients want more effective, faster and secure management of their data files. Medical staff do not want to have to spend a long time searching for their own diagnoses, and many of them like to access information from colleagues in a timely manner to verify their own therapies.
Also, supposedly more and more patients are signaling their willingness to share information about their own condition with more experts, according to the motto: more eyes equals faster solution. Even though this often proves to be a fallacy in practice. According to blockchain proponents, such desires are hampered solely by outdated, ineffective and insecure technology. In view of the years-long delays in the introduction of the health card due to unresolved data protection issues, a more than questionable PR argument.
Blockchain: secure data management?
IT enthusiasts and providers of blockchain products are now poking into this alleged technical need gap. They are praising the new, highly complex technology, which is incomprehensible to most ordinary mortals, as the supposed panacea for all current data problems. For example, they say, blockchain may be difficult for outsiders to understand. But it’s really just a digital ledger whose entries are visible to many, but difficult to change.
Secure as long as you don’t have all the keys
Highly sensitive information such as diagnoses and clinical pictures can be viewed, but not easily changed. Experts in the field are now trying to reassure overly skeptical privacy advocates. After all, hackers would have to steal several access keys to gain access to everything in the medical file. This is a completely absurd idea, as evidenced by the major data thefts of recent years….
IoMT in the blockchain: better, faster, more efficient?
With the medical Internet of Things (IoMT) proliferating rapidly, many blockchain supporters are hoping for a decisive boost in further penetrating society. More and more people are now using wearable devices that transmit their bodily data to platforms on the Internet.
Telemedicine offerings for video-assisted treatment are also becoming more prevalent, especially during the pandemic. Artificial intelligence and machine learning are more often taking over detailed diagnoses of unclear conditions. And medical facilities are increasingly coming to appreciate IoT solutions that help them ingest, analyze, and repurpose data from their devices for optimized purposes. All of this requires data processing capabilities that blockchain proponents see only in their technology.
Only they could manage such large amounts of data and ensure its real-time processing. Smart contracts would define the respective responsibilities in a binding way. The only resistance that would still stand in the way of blockchain’s further breakthrough success would be the lack of suitably trained personnel, the absence of any common standards, and insufficient interoperability. In other words, nothing that cannot be solved in the near future…
