A medical society as old as the US itself has announced it’s going to start using blockchain to start storing patient data.
The Delaware Medical Society has said its focus is on pre-authorisation and hopes to be able to deliver care more quickly by focusing on this step of care providers’ and medical insurers’ access.
“The entire health care community agrees that pre-authorization processes need improvement,” MSD Vice President Andrew Dahlke told the Dover Post. “We are confident that this Proof of Concept will not only address this particular pain point, but will lay the groundwork for streamlining other healthcare administrative issues as well.”
This is the result of Delaware governor John C. Carney Jr. signing a bill on Friday, resolving an issue which begun last year when his predecessor, Jack Markell, launched an initiative to promote blockchain efficiencies in government. The bill makes it explicitly legal for businesses to use blockchain technology for stock-trading and record keeping.
This also follows an Microsoft launch announcement of Coco Framework, an open source system that allows companies to code their own blockchain technology. More broadly, blockchain affords companies better database speeds, vastly improved confidentiality and more flexible network management. J.P. Morgan is already talking about merging its distributed ledger with Coco.
Microsoft’s announcement is symbolic of a broader trend – businesses are highly interested in blockchain technology and they want to use it. Microsoft having built a framework for these businesses is, in effect, a large Silicon Valley player throwing its weight behind the blockchain concept.
Blockchain’s history has been chequered and questionable, which in turn has brought its future under question. All cryptocurrencies function from blockchain technology, and many of them have been plagued by negative press recently.
The move from Microsoft, an introduction of blockchain at state-level and vote of confidence from medical companies (whose security is vital), is a big step in the right direction for the technology.
The news last week sent Bitcoin’s price up by over $100. It seems to me that the blockchain technology and cryptocurrency future is going nowhere but up, so despite the persistent doubts, it’s these kind of movements in the market which solidify its foundations.
