We can consider data the most valuable asset in healthcare. Of course, except for health itself. According to Wikipedia, “Health data is any data “related to health conditions, reproductive outcomes, causes of death, and quality of life” for an individual or population.

Health data includes clinical metrics and environmental, socioeconomic, and behavioral information about health and wellness. Data around the logistics of treatments also counts as health-related data. Health data currently accounts for 30% of global data volume, and statistics expect that by 2025, it will grow at a CAGR of 36%. However, due to the pandemic and a hunger for personal data collection from Big Tech players and malicious actors, we have learned that the current digital infrastructure needs to catch up with the growing demand for health data storage, privacy, and integrity.

Utilizing blockchain technology can solve the issue of health data by decentralizing healthcare and connecting all stakeholders on a single distributed, community-owned platform. So how is data currently managed in healthcare?

How is health data currently managed?

Health data interoperability requirements

ONC, Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, states that to provide nationwide interoperability for healthcare records, having the following components, among others, is critical:

• A secure and public network infrastructure.
• Digital authenticated identities for all participants.
• A consistent model of authorization for health data access.

Although the current global health system utilizes modern technologies, it fails to address those components and other requirements to achieve data privacy, security, and full interoperability between different systems and institutes.

No common ground in healthcare

Health records today are stovepiped and disjointed as they sit in silos in doctors’ offices, health institutes, or in the grip of third parties. Healthcare lacks common standards and architectures to transfer or share sensitive data among different stakeholders safely. Healthcare providers traditionally track patients’ information in a database within a particular organization or a defined network of stakeholders. However, health-related data services should continue beyond one organization. Health institutes could take one more step to standardize data sets of each patient interaction to a universal blockchain transaction layer.

Health data silos and ownership issue

In essence, data custodianship is a problem in this highly fragmented industry. Currently, most healthcare data is centralized in government and corporate-controlled digital infrastructures. Healthcare information technology must access, share, and interpret healthcare data cohesively for optimal care. Blockchain breaks the current data silos and allows electronic health data sharing across systems as data infrastructures operate on the same layer.

With a growing need for privacy and sovereignty, the ability to consent to data sharing in a privacy-preserving manner will be critical for enterprises that want to cater to the patients and consumers of tomorrow. Empowering patients to take custody of their data will change the system because it allows for many use cases. Data custody comes with a regulatory burden, which a decentralized infrastructure can reduce by enabling the patient to assume data sovereignty and consent to data utility on a case-by-case basis.

Why blockchain?

Blockchain technology brings hope to healthcare by ensuring data privacy and security. It uses cryptography to encrypt stored records on the network, which usually link to larger data sets in a secure repository. It offers decentralized data storage, solving the limited linkage and lack of interoperability between different health systems. Blockchain grants people digital identities and ownership over their data, placing them at the core of healthcare. It enables them to access their health data, consent to share or buy it, and connect more efficiently with all stakeholders. Blockchain, simply put, is the future of healthcare. Let’s hope companies utilize this technology so we can witness some game-changing breakthroughs in the health industry.

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