Blockchain technology has been transforming the healthcare industry, becoming even more critical in a year that has been defined by a global pandemic. During Sir Anthony Ritossa’s 13th Global Family Office Investment Summit Dubai, a panel of experts delved into how the technology is providing medical data authenticity, giving patients ownership of their medical data and stamping out counterfeit drugs from the market.
The panel was moderated by Jimmy Nguyen, Founding President of the Bitcoin Association. It brought together two companies building medical solutions on the Bitcoin SV blockchain – Veridat and EHR Data. Muhammad Anjum, the managing director of Bin Zayed Group and Dr. Ruchi Dana, a board member of the healthcare-focused family office Dana Group were also members of the panel.
Ron Austring, the chief scientist at EHR Data, explained to the audience how his company is leading the fight against the deadly opioid crisis using the Bitcoin SV blockchain.
“We believe that the patient owns their own healthcare data. We’re taking all the healthcare data silos that exist in the U.S., and we’re combining that into a single silo. In doing that, we are able to track all medical services across all those different industries.”
Veridat director Phillip Runyan broke down to the audience how his company’s Bitcoin SV-powered flagship product Bench is enabling data authenticity in the healthcare industry. Bench allows all the stakeholders in the healthcare industry to verify all medical and pharmaceutical data against the immutable and timestamped records on the BSV blockchain. This extends even to the regulators, Runyan stated, adding:
“Regulators can be sure, without requiring trust, that the information received from Veridat is 100% accurate, as it should match with what the manufacturers provided. There’s no requirement of saying ‘You said it is, so I guess it is.’”
Runyan pointed to the ‘Vaccine King’ scandal in China which exposed the need for immutable, verifiable, timestamped data in the healthcare industry. A New York Times exposé revealed recently how the people leading the search for a COVID-19 vaccine in China have a documented past of bribing their way to regulatory approvals.
“Blockchain technology can help create trust in the drugs that are released and approved in the marketplace to help at least curb the incidences of fabrication and fraud,” Nguyen added.
Anjum’s firm has been extensively involved in the COVID-19 vaccine distribution process, applying blockchain technology to ensure there’s transparency and accountability. The vaccination will be the largest supply chain operation in the world as over 7 billion people are expected to receive the vaccine in the next year. For her part, Dr. Dana has invested in a British startup that’s putting genetic data on a blockchain and giving the users the ability to monetize it.
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