‘Fit-for-purpose?’ – challenges and opportunities for applications of blockchain technology in the future of healthcare

Blockchain is a shared distributed digital ledger technology that can better facilitate data management, provenance and security, and has the potential to transform healthcare. Importantly, blockchain represents a data architecture, whose application goes far beyond Bitcoin – the cryptocurrency that...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:BMC medicine Vol. 17; no. 1; pp. 68 - 17
Main Authors: Mackey, Tim K., Kuo, Tsung-Ting, Gummadi, Basker, Clauson, Kevin A., Church, George, Grishin, Dennis, Obbad, Kamal, Barkovich, Robert, Palombini, Maria
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: London BioMed Central 27.03.2019
BioMed Central Ltd
Springer Nature B.V
BMC
Subjects:
Beyond Big Data to new Biomedical and Health Data Science moving to next century precision health
Biomedical Technology - methods
Biomedical Technology - organization & administration
Biomedical Technology - trends
Biomedicine
Blockchain
Blockchains (Databases)
Business logistics
Business process management
Clinical trials
Computer Communication Networks - organization & administration
Computer Communication Networks - standards
Computer Communication Networks - supply & distribution
Computer Communication Networks - trends
Cryptocurrencies
Cryptography
Cybersecurity
Data management
Data processing
Data Warehousing - methods
Data Warehousing - trends
Delivery of Health Care - methods
Delivery of Health Care - organization & administration
Delivery of Health Care - trends
Digital currencies
Digital signatures
Distributed ledger technology
Electronic Data Processing - methods
Electronic Data Processing - organization & administration
Electronic Data Processing - trends
Electronic records
Equipment and Supplies Utilization - organization & administration
Equipment and Supplies Utilization - trends
Forum
Genomes
Genomics
Health care
Health care industry
Health care reform
Health informatics
Healthcare technology
High-Throughput Screening Assays - standards
Humans
Life sciences
Management Information Systems - standards
Management Information Systems - trends
Medical informatics
Medical Informatics - methods
Medical Informatics - organization & administration
Medical Informatics - trends
Medical records
Medical Records - standards
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Open standards
Pharmaceuticals
Security
Supply chain
Supply chains
Technology
Technology application
United States > US
Supply chain
Medical licensure
Genomics
Blockchain
Clinical trials
Distributed ledger technology
Healthcare technology
Electronic health records
Health informatics
ISSN:1741-7015, 1741-7015
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Blockchain is a shared distributed digital ledger technology that can better facilitate data management, provenance and security, and has the potential to transform healthcare. Importantly, blockchain represents a data architecture, whose application goes far beyond Bitcoin – the cryptocurrency that relies on blockchain and has popularized the technology. In the health sector, blockchain is being aggressively explored by various stakeholders to optimize business processes, lower costs, improve patient outcomes, enhance compliance, and enable better use of healthcare-related data. However, critical in assessing whether blockchain can fulfill the hype of a technology characterized as ‘revolutionary’ and ‘disruptive’, is the need to ensure that blockchain design elements consider actual healthcare needs from the diverse perspectives of consumers, patients, providers, and regulators. In addition, answering the real needs of healthcare stakeholders, blockchain approaches must also be responsive to the unique challenges faced in healthcare compared to other sectors of the economy. In this sense, ensuring that a health blockchain is ‘fit-for-purpose’ is pivotal. This concept forms the basis for this article, where we share views from a multidisciplinary group of practitioners at the forefront of blockchain conceptualization, development, and deployment.
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ISSN:1741-7015
1741-7015
DOI:10.1186/s12916-019-1296-7