Blockchain for Healthcare: Data Integrity and Interoperability Challenges

The healthcare is one of the most significant spheres of human existence as it is related to the health, life, and well-being of people. Hospitals, clinics, labs, pharmaceutical and insurance companies daily produce a colossal volume of medical data. This information will encompass the records of the patients, tests, medications, their treatments, and personal information.

I have now understood that this data is a very serious challenge in terms of managing and protecting. In many healthcare organizations, the archives of storing data remain in the realm of the outdated approaches, i.e. paper files or centralized computer systems, which cannot be considered entirely safe and efficient. That is why the adoption of the blockchain technology is being viewed nowadays as the potential way of enhancing the process of securing and sharing healthcare data.

Blockchain is a virtual platform that records information in a blockchain. The information on each block is connected to the previous one. Information is not easy to modify or erase after it has been entered into a blockchain. This attribute renders blockchain extremely strong in terms of data integrity, which is the maintenance of data as is, accurate and full.

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Data integrity is very critical in the healthcare field. Modification of a minor alteration in the medical history of a patient may result into improper medication or even demise. In my opinion, the application of blockchain in healthcare will allow the doctors and patients to be sure that the medical data that they are viewing is authentic and genuine. Nobody would be in a position to alter the medical records underhand to benefit self or to conceal an error.

The absence of interoperability is one of the largest issues of the modern healthcare system. The interoperability implies that various systems, hospitals, and organizations can easily share and use information. Various software systems are used by many hospitals which cannot interact with other systems. To take an example, when a patient transfers to another hospital in a new city or country, medical records might not be transferred to the new doctor.

This makes the patient repeat the tests, retell medical history, and even start all over, in some cases. I consider this highly stressful and unneeded, particularly during emergency cases. Blockchain would assist in addressing this issue because it is a universal and common database where approved healthcare providers will have access to the same secure and updated data.

Although blockchain is associated with numerous advantages, it has severe issues in the healthcare industry. Privacy is one of the greatest problems. Medical data is highly sensitive and it should be taken care of. Blockchain is both secure and transparent, i.e. any information stored on it can be observed by numerous members within the network. This may be hazardous when the system is not made in the correct way.

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Healthcare systems will then need to discover a means of achieving patient identity protection and still reap the advantages of blockchain. I believe this is one of the areas where the use of strong encryption and special access controls will have to be required.

The other significant obstacle is the volume of healthcare information. Medical records like MRI scans, X-rays, and complete records of the patient are extremely huge. The reason why blockchain is not created to hold massive data is that it may become sluggish and costly.

One of the possible solutions to it is to save the large files in safe cloud systems and transfer only the access links or records to the blockchain. In such a manner, it is verified and validated by the blockchain whereas the real data is kept in other places. Although this may appear to be a brilliant idea, it still must be properly thought out and reliable systems.

Cost and adoption is also a problem. Introduction of blockchain into healthcare will involve new technology, new training and new regulations. This change may not be rapid enough to be made in many hospitals, particularly in the developing world, which do not have the money or expertise to make it.

Other medical practitioners also fear change and do not trust new systems readily. I do empathize with this fear, but I really feel that this can be overcome with time, education, and government backing, blockchain can be effectively implemented in the health care industry.

Patients will be able to exercise more control over their own data in the future, as long as blockchain is applied appropriately in the healthcare sector. They will be in a position to determine who will access their medical details and when they will access their details. This will bring a clearer, secure, and effective healthcare system.

Even when the patient is foreign to the country, doctors will be able to retrieve the correct records of the patient within a few seconds. I am of the firm opinion that this will save time, avoid medical errors and even save lives.

To sum everything up, blockchain technology can revolutionize the healthcare sector due to its ability to enhance the integrity of data and address the issue of interoperability. Although privacy, size of data, cost, and adoption are some of the challenges associated with it, the rewards are too high to overlook.

It is my opinion that technology will bring about a significant change in the future to ensure a safer and more connected healthcare system worldwide because of blockchain.