Journal Article

Opportunities for Use of Blockchain Technology in Medicine

Radanović, Igor, Likić, Robert

2018

Overview

Blockchain technology is a decentralized database that stores a registry of assets and transactions across a peer-to-peer computer network, which is secured through cryptography, and over time, its history gets locked in blocks of data that are cryptographically linked together and secured. So far, there have been use cases of this technology for cryptocurrencies, digital contracts, financial and public records, and property ownership. It is expected that future uses will expand into medicine, science, education, intellectual property, and supply chain management. Likely applications in the field of medicine could include electronic health records, health insurance, biomedical research, drug supply and procurement processes, and medical education. Utilization of blockchain is not without its weaknesses and currently, this technology is extremely immature and lacks public or even expert knowledge, making it hard to have a clear strategic vision of its true future potential. Presently, there are issues with scalability, security of smart contracts, and user adoption. Nevertheless, with capital investments into blockchain technology projected to reach US$400 million in 2019, health professionals and decision makers should be aware of the transformative potential that blockchain technology offers for healthcare organizations and medical practice.

• Publisher: Springer International Publishing,Springer Nature B.V
• Subject: Adoption of innovations / Archives & records / Biomedicine / Blockchain / Capital / Capital investments / Computer networks / Computerized medical records / Corruption / Cryptography / Current Opinion / Decentralization / Decision makers / Digital contracts / Digital currencies / Distributed ledger / Education / Electronic health records / Genomics / Government contracts / Health Administration / Health care industry / Health care policy / Health Economics / Health insurance / Health records / Health services / Health services utilization / Intellectual property / Internet access / Investments / Medical decision making / Medical education / Medical personnel / Medical records / Medical research / Medical schools / Medical technology / Medicine / Medicine & Public Health / Ownership / Patients / Peer relationships / Peer to peer computing / Peers / Pharmaceutical industry / Pharmacoeconomics and Health Outcomes / Professional education / Property / Public finance / Public Health / Public records / Quality of Life Research / R&D / Research & development / Scientometrics / Students / Subsidies / Supply / Supply chains / Systematic review / Technology / Transactions