Zelis CTO urged health care providers to use blockchain technology to safeguard patient information and fend against cyberattacks.
The use of blockchain technology, according to Kali Durgampudi, CTO of healthcare payments business Zelis, is essential for safeguarding patients’ sensitive data from fraudsters.
As the sector attempts to digitize its “archaic paper-based processes,” Durgampudi observed that privacy and data security are among the major challenges in healthcare.
“Blockchain technology has the potential to alleviate many of these concerns,” he said, as he highlighted the importance of utilizing a digital ledger that is “impenetrable” to protect sensitive patient and financial data amid the growing rate of cyberattacks across the globe.
“Since the information cannot be modified or copied, blockchain technology vastly reduces security risks, giving hospital and healthcare IT organizations a much stronger line of defense against cybercriminals.”
Durgampudi continued by pointing out that, in comparison to present healthcare payment arrangements, blockchain technology can assist bring improved transparency and efficiency. He claimed that because emails may go wrong and there was no way to confirm delivery, many payers and providers were reluctant to exchange information via email.
“Blockchain provides both payers and providers with complete visibility into the entire lifecycle of a claim, from the patient registering at the front desk to disputing a cost to sending an explanation of benefits,” he added.
Real world use
IBM, a global leader in technology, is one of the major businesses that has worked on blockchain-based healthcare solutions.
The company’s blockchain division has released a number of healthcare solutions, including ‘Blockchain Transparent Supply,’ which tracks the supply chain for pharmaceuticals that must be kept at a specific temperature, ‘Trust Your Supplier,’ a service for finding verified suppliers, and health credential verification.
In March 2021, IBM and former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo were collaborating on a trial of a COVID-19 vaccination passport known as the “Excelsior Pass.” The passport was made to be able to use IBM’s blockchain to validate a person’s immunization history or test results.
Enterprise blockchain VeChain is a significant player in the blockchain-based healthcare industry. The initiative and Shanghai’s Renji Hospital collaborated in June 2017 to introduce a blockchain-based In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) service application.
In July 2021, VeChain also collaborated with the Republic of San Marino to introduce an NFT-based vaccination passport that was advertised as being globally verifiable by the scanning of QR codes attached to the certificate.
This week, Durgampudi was joined by blockchain investor David Jia, who holds a Ph.D. in neuroscience from Oxford University.
Jia stressed in a blog post published on Medium on July 21 that the management of clinical trial data, patient information, and claiming/billing could all be considerably enhanced by blockchain technology.
“Accuracy in medical records over the long term as well as accessibility is essential, as it is necessary for an individual’s record to be able to be transferred between providers, insurance companies, and specialists with relative ease. If medical records are stored on a blockchain, they may be updated safely in almost real-time,” he wrote.
