Healthcare is not merely medicine; it also encompasses the right attitude, an ability to adapt, and actions that welcome new practices, technology, or cures. The 21st century has witnessed a technological revolution like no other, and it looks like this trend will continue for some time in the coming years. The best thing about technology is a product or model can always be upgraded to a better version of itself with little to no cost depending on the service provider.
The Healthureum project capitalizes on this integration of technology into our everyday lives to better the healthcare service we receive whenever we visit a medical institution. With healthcare spending estimated to rise by at least 3% in the next three years primarily due to infrastructure issues, Healthureum is the perfect opportunity to exploit these modern innovations and use them to better the healthcare system.
Humans might be slow to adapt but considering significant growth in counterfeit drugs industry; new methods will be required to prevent the death of patients in the hands of underqualified medical practitioners. Not to mention, with more healthcare institutions receiving funding as well as proper an opportunity to purchase or lease high-end medical equipment, the dissemination of healthcare services will be even around the globe.
Poor people don’t have to travel to countries like India, the U.S or U.K for medical assistance. However, all these objectives will not be attainable without the use of modern technology such as cryptography, Blockchain, and smart contracts. Disparity levels in the healthcare system are growing by the day, and if these institutions do not adopt new strategies such as the Healthureum project, then some hospitals will be reserved for the rich while the poor settle for substandard and risky treatment plans.
Quality care, requirements for treatment plans, and access to specialist practitioners should be evenly distributed across all healthcare systems around the globe if we are to move forward in unison. Here are some of the ways the Healthureum project will rid healthcare services of dissemination using cutting-edge technology.
• Transparency
The Healthureum project uses Blockchain technology to allow for transactions as well as seamless storage and sharing of data. This technology is also unlike the current EHR systems used by medical institutions from all around the world to store both patient and hospital thanks to its transparency. Most philanthropists have stopped funding research programs and hospitals alike due to rising cases of fraud and mismanagement of funds.
By using Blockchain technology, Healthureum will be paving the way for a decentralized approach to data storage and distribution. Unlike EHR systems, Blockchain technology is not controlled by a single individual or institution but by all the participants on the network. Not to mention, seeing that this technology is the same regardless of your geographical location, it will be easy to get medical attention even when far away from your country.
After accessing your medical information, Blockchain technology will issue a time stamp showing access time as well as the changes made to the medical files. As such accountability and transparency across every step of your healing process are appropriately documented. The use, repair, and purchase of medical equipment will also be monitored using this technology.
• Security
Transparency ensured by Blockchain technology will also be closely followed by security regarding both the documents stored and the information shared across various medical institutions in the Healthureum ecosystem. At the moment, fraud is making healthcare services plummet to all-time lows as more hospitals are dragged by insurance companies to court for ongoing proceedings.
Not to mention, the counterfeit drug industry has now grown to a multi-billion industry ranking in $20 million in profits just last year. However, with Blockchain technology, patients will not only be able to identify counterfeit medicine but will also be well informed regarding a medical practitioner’s license, their area of operation, as well as the school their affiliates. Not to mention, patients will have a master index which will allow them to permit anyone who wants to view their medical history.
Seeing that Blockchain technology is tamperproof, cases of leaked documents or hacked medical institutions will also reduce exponentially.
• Interoperability
One of the main reasons why the current healthcare system is not evolving is its inability to move as a unit. While some hospitals have the late st equipment and innovations such as 3D printing and artificial intelligence just to mention a few, others do not even have vaccines that were released a decade ago. Not to mention, with no proper avenues for data sharing, some countries are left in the dark when new treatment programs are released, or new cures developed.
Though Blockchain technology, the Healthureum project will make data transfer easy for researchers and aid in the amalgamation of medical institutions around the globe thereby increasing proper health care service dissemination.
