Over 16 percent of healthcare companies are ready to implement Blockchain in 2017 for commercial purposes.
In a study titled “Healthcare rallies for Blockchains,” conducted by the IBM Institute for Business Value, 16 percent of the executives told IBM that experimental phases have come to an end and that their companies are ready to adopt, implement and commercialize Blockchain.
In the survey conducted internationally, 200 major healthcare company executives revealed their thoughts on Blockchain technology and potential implementation strategies in the upcoming years.
Researchers at IBM and the Economist Intelligence Unit stated:
“We found that 16 percent aren’t just experimenting, they expect to have a commercial Blockchain solution at scale in 2017. These Trailblazers are leading the charge with real-world Blockchain applications that they expect to take down the frictions that hold them back. They’re keenly focused on accessing new and trusted information which they can keep secure, as well as entering new markets.”
Utilization of Blockchain to secure data
Over the past decade, the healthcare industry has experienced some of the largest hacking attacks and data breaches to date, leading to the loss of millions of consumer data and sensitive client information. Some of the types of data stolen in cyber attacks included financial information and personal data, which can then be used to blackmail consumers and demand ransom payments.
To further prevent potential cyberattacks and the theft of data, healthcare companies are shifting their focus from traditional IT infrastructure to Blockchain technology, with hopes to secure their data on an immutable and transparent ledger which enables anyone within the network to access information in real-time.
Healthcare companies are particularly interested in the transaction data of Blockchains, which store the history of all transactions that have been settled previously to new transactions. This unique characteristic of Blockchain allows users within the network to see which transactions were settled by accessing one single transaction.
While payment settlement will be one of the core operations of the healthcare Blockchain, major operations will revolve around the protection of data. Thus, it is likely that healthcare companies will replace traditional transactional data with client data, allowing institutions and other relevant parties to access past client data on the Blockchain.
“How valuable would it be to have the full history of an individual’s health? What if every vital sign that has been recorded, all of the medicines taken, information associated with every doctor’s visit, illness, operation and more could be efficiently and accurately captured? The quality and coordination of care would be expected to rise, and the costs and risks likely to fall,” researchers added.