Research Paper on Innovation in Healthcare through Technology

Introduction

The healthcare sector has undergone a chronological transformation, and it's amazing to look back and assess how far the healthcare sector has come technologically. In case someone from a century ago suddenly found themselves in the contemporary world, it is evident that they would think that they have been teleported to an entirely new dimension. On the healthcare perspective, there has been an improved efficiency to standards and an enhanced experienced for both the patients and the medical practitioners. Besides the changes witnessed, the healthcare sector is still undergoing a digital revolution (Mettler, 2016). Despite the enhancement of data collection resources, interoperability and accessibility of data remains an issue. For this reason, Blockchain technology has been incorporated into the healthcare sector to help improve efficiency further. This technology utilizes a decentralized network in collecting and sharing data through the use of smart contracts that offer an extra layer of security. Even though the practical aspects of the technology has not been tested in the healthcare sector, there is a belief that it will enhance quality care and interoperability.

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People connect with each other over networked systems across the globe, and this means that the world is getting smaller day by day. These connections speed up reaction times among peoples to facilitate quick and easier communication. At the same time, there have been gains made as software and computer systems link for automated data sharing. With numerous complicated systems linked together, there have been issues of interoperability in the healthcare sector. Blockchain technology is expected to help connect and enhance communication between systems even though developed by different manufactures situated in entirely different industries. This is because the ability to exchange information between databases and other computer systems is fundamental to the contemporary economy and healthcare sector. According to a study by IBM, 16 percent of the surveyed healthcare stakeholders has plans to utilize commercial Blockchain solution in the coming one year while another 56 percent expected to implement the technology by 2020 (Mettler, 2016). Healthcare companies and technology innovators linked to the healthcare fraternity are grappling with the possible benefits of the technology. The primary vision for the technology nevertheless, is to solve many problems that affect the industry aligned to information management and create a common health information database that doctors and health care providers can access regardless of the electronic system used. Through the system, an analysis of the healthcare sector indicates that interoperability deals with the ability of different computer systems and software to share and exchange data from various fundamental sources such as laboratories, pharmacies, and medical procedures. For instance, a doctor can send radiology assessment to address a complicated fracture. The result is thereafter transmitted to the radiologist then to the imaging department even if the two practices are utilizing entirely different software systems. There will be higher security, reduced admin time for the practitioners and hence additional time to focus on the patient care and ultimately offer quality health care.

Some of the issues that hinder the implementation of Blockchain technology in the healthcare sector is lack of structures to assemble, share and analyze information. Unfortunately, some of the initiatives put in place to tackle the issue doesn't go past proof-of-concept due to the very specific attributes of the healthcare market. One major hindrance to the implementation is the fact that data is managed by current systems. A significant amount of money and time has been spent on building the structures and introducing new technology will need the restructuring of the platforms. The current system stores information on a local database with fewer possibilities of sharing with other organizations. The use of Blockchain will mean a complete change from the centralized system to distributed and global system. Security is another issue that hinders the successful implementation of Blockchain in the healthcare market. It has suffered from a negative image as a result of a security breach. In this case, its utilization in the healthcare sector would seem inappropriate. From the legal point of view, the primary concern when handling data is security (Chowdhury, 2015). The information explicitly collected on matters health is valuable and sensitive hence the need to assure users the security of their information.

Even though there exist some ways that Blockchain can help service providers in the healthcare operation, it won't provide an ultimate solution in the industry, but it will be a step towards the right direction. Healthcare sector is currently drowning in data management from clinical trials, patient records, complicated billing processes and medical research. The implementation and use of Blockchain is expected to be an evolution over time as the technology is vetted and implemented as the industry comes together to assess the collaboration and the existing government issues. As it is normal with the emerging technology, the possibilities of what awaits the future is unknown at the moment. Nevertheless, it is the right time for the healthcare sector to take fresh strategy to data sharing and improve on interoperability and healthcare service provision.

There has been significant growth in the pharmaceutical and biotech sector in recent years, propelled by growth and development in specialty pharmaceuticals. This growth has been parallel in profit pools for other players in the pharmaceutical and biotech value chain, including the retailers, distributers, and the wholesalers. With the incorporation of Blockchain technology into the sector, the profit share is expected to increase at the expense of healthcare systems from drugs; manufacturers will be able to maintain their share (Dhillon, Metcalf & Hooper, 2017). It is essential to think of interoperability in the healthcare sector as a philosophy rather than just standard-based systems. On the technical side of things, it will help reduce the time taken to engage in useful conversation between the health care providers as well as the practitioners and the parents. This will lead to enhanced patient engagement and better results since additional time will be taken to handle the patients' issues or injury as the professional create treatment plans. The concept of interoperability leads to easier access to things like the patient electronic health record but will only operate to the extent that various software vendors will coordinate to share what can be exclusive system data. At the same time, there is a need for the healthcare organizations to willingly share patient information through the network for access by other databases.

The technology will work because the healthcare sector has been in need of medical record management system that facilitates easy access by providers located in different areas. The goal of the system is to offer patients and the medical practitioners with one-stop access to the whole medical history. At the same time, in case a patient wish to offer access to the personal and sensitive medical information, their information is provided anonymously and used in research which could make medical innovations possibly faster and efficient as it is at the moment. Pioneer in the field indicates the potential of how Blockchain will dramatically change things in the healthcare sector. Other than the record management, the success of the system will be facilitated by the need to mitigate counterfeit drugs. This is a problem that costs pharmaceutical firms more than $200 billion in losses every year (Dhillon, Metcalf & Hooper, 2017). There will be a reduction in admin cost for billing through the elimination of intermediaries and more useful processing. With the centralization of results also, there will be improved health care and patient outcomes in the coming years.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Blockchain technology has over the years been associated with financial sectors. Nevertheless, it is slowly moving to the healthcare sector and is expected to tackle the issue of interoperability and facilitate the provision of quality healthcare services. Some of the challenges that can influence the successful implementation of the system include lack of structures that can accommodate it, security concerns and cultural shift. However, it is essential to note that the technology will offer security aspects since data can only be accessed upon permission by the patient. This is because data is encrypted to ensure data safety and security. Subsequently, medical records can be accessed at any time as long as the patient offers third-party access permission.

References

Chowdhury, J. (2015). Hacking health: bottom-up innovation for healthcare. Technology Innovation Management Review, 2(7).

Dhillon, V., Metcalf, D., & Hooper, M. (2017). Blockchain enabled applications: Understand the blockchain ecosystem and how to make it work for you.

Mettler, M. (2016, September). Blockchain technology in healthcare: The revolution starts here. In e-Health Networking, Applications and Services (Healthcom), 2016 IEEE 18th International Conference on (pp. 1-3). IEEE.