Humana, along with other prominent healthcare organizations, has announced a blockchain pilot for medical data sharing.
Five healthcare firms are planning to join forces for a pilot project that will use blockchain technology to improve the accuracy of healthcare provider data and reduce the costs associated with keeping that information up to date.
On April 2, Humana, MultiPlan, Quest Diagnostics, UnitedHealth Group's Optum, and UnitedHealthcare announced[1] their intention to launch the trial, which aims to explore an alternative to the current data storage system.
Today, a variety of healthcare entities each maintain their own copies of patients' data, and reconciling the different versions of these records can be a complicated, time-consuming, and expensive process. According to the joint press release, attempts to harmonize records currently cost the healthcare industry some $2.1 billion per year.
By contrast, this project proposes a system that would share newly-created data with multiple parties by recording them to a blockchain.
The participating companies hope the pilot will lead to solutions that will improve patients' "access to care" in addition to saving healthcare providers money and equipping them with the most current and accurate data available.
ETHNews has been reporting[2] on blockchain-based medical data[3] sharing projects since 2016[4].
Adam Reese is a Los Angeles-based writer interested in technology, domestic and international politics, social issues, infrastructure and the arts. Adam is a full-time staff writer for ETHNews and holds value in Ether, Bitcoin, and Monero.
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References
- ^ announced (www.unitedhealthgroup.com)
- ^ reporting (www.ethnews.com)
- ^ medical data (www.ethnews.com)
- ^ since 2016 (www.ethnews.com)
- ^ Editorial Policy (www.ethnews.com)
- ^ Twitter @ETHNews_ (twitter.com)
