Blockchain in health care

Abstract

In this chapter, we have demonstrated how Blockchain can contribute to addressing the major healthcare issues. These include recording medical data (security, interoperability, accessibility), recording the results of medical research, setting up care chains and ensuring the quality of the medicines. In current healthcare practice, avoidable errors are still made as a result of the lack of information. In addition, time is wasted on double healthcare activities. Therefore, the electronic exchange of healthcare information between healthcare professionals and healthcare institutions should become the standard. Electronic data exchange takes place in a very complex environment. Important developments for the implementation of Blockchain include: increasing the agility of organisations and professionals (including due to COVID-19), a sense of urgency to continue digitisation, artificial intelligence focused on early diagnosis and self-diagnosis, standardisation of healthcare activities, and lifestyle interventions. Among other things, COVID-19 needs to accelerate the provision of good information. Blockchain contributes to clear, validated and reliable recording. So while Blockchain is at an early stage, we believe it will converge with Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things. This makes a fundamentally different way of organising care processes possible.