Virtual Clinic Uses Blockchain to Transform Treatments For Seriously Ill Patients

An established healthcare company is launching a Blockchain-based ecosystem designed to empower patients suffering from chronic and life-threatening diseases.

TrustedHealth’s platform allows patients to receive speedy consultations from doctors who specialize in treating their condition, even if they are on the other side of the world. It says Blockchain technology has the potential to dramatically improve how sensitive patient data is stored, and enable healthcare providers to exchange information quickly.

The company also wants to make it easier to obtain second opinions, with research published in the Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice revealing up to 88 percent of patients who saw a second doctor during a Mayo Clinic study were presented with a refined or completely new diagnosis.

Getting the correct information early on can prevent patients from enduring intrusive and unnecessary procedures and it could even save lives.

In February, TrustedHealth presented its project to the World Health Organization at its headquarters in Geneva. Since then, the company has been engaged in discussions about how its platform could help further WHO’s mission.

Treating problems in the healthcare industry

TrustedHealth’s CEO, Greg Jarząbek, says there is a “lack of trust in the existing healthcare industry” in part because misdiagnosis rates are so high. Patients are facing an uphill struggle to find the right practitioner because consistent medical expertise is not concentrated in one place.

Mr. Jarząbek was moved to take action when he experienced these inefficiencies first hand. He told CT: “A few years ago, I lost my mother to pancreatic cancer. In the months leading up to her passing, I flew around the world in pursuit of the most accurate diagnosis and effective treatment. I realized that our medical expertise is tremendously scattered.”

His company’s goal is to ensure patients and their families do not need to worry about geography, time and money when they are trying to develop a treatment plan – giving them a feeling of control which enables them to focus on what’s important.

Building on an existing platform

TrustedHealth is going to be integrated into Trustedoctor, an existing virtual platform which focuses on connecting patients with specialized medical practitioners. At the moment, it focuses on brain, lung and prostate cancer patients with plans to support breast cancer and spinal conditions at the start of 2018.

The company’s chief medical officer, Philippe Schucht, explained: “A patient isn’t diagnosed with general brain cancer, but with a specific subset of the disease that requires a specific treatment plan.”

So far, Trustedoctor has established a network of 80 doctors, helping 250 patients worldwide to get the treatment they deserve. As well as establishing partnerships with 16 patient organizations, it has been performing virtual clinic trials with six hospitals based in the UK, Switzerland, France and the US. Doctors are also using the system for secure online communication at more than 40 hospitals globally.

Through its PatientLink tool, patients are able to create a secure profile containing details of their health condition and medical history, enabling their chosen specialist to read and analyze the data remotely.

Broadening its horizons

The company says “the success of Trustedoctor is growing and gaining from Blockchain technology with the launch of TrustedHealth.”

Over the next two years, it plans to support patients suffering from a further 20 conditions by welcoming more than 450 new specialists to its platform. Patients will also be able to make suggestions and vote on which diseases should be supported by TrustedHealth in future.

TrustedHealth says its Blockchain-based platform will make it easier for treatment centers and insurers to share medical records, stopping sensitive patient information from being stored in disjointed and insecure databases. These dramatic improvements in knowledge transfer could also transform medical research, and result in better treatments being developed for life-threatening diseases in future.

Underpinning the ecosystem is the TDH token – a “common healthcare currency” which patients can use to make payments to doctors. Meanwhile, specialists who hold tokens will be able to access anonymized research data. The company also intends to give part of its revenue to patients who are unable to afford care.

Going mainstream

TrustedHealth’s vision is to become “the Facebook and LinkedIn for specialized healthcare” enhancing communication and improving outcomes for seriously ill patients.

Its presale begins on March 20 at 12 p.m. CET with a 30 percent bonus, and this will be followed by a crowdsale one week later. The company says its private sale sold out without any advertising.