A big portion of data that are produced by various digital ecosystems has met a lack of interoperability on the line between applications, data streams and predictability in the healthcare. The new technology approach in the distributed messaging and Blockchain became a key component of many healthcare technology stacks and can derive real-time data streams as valuable and scalable enough to enable real-time healthcare predictive analytics. Besides, ingesting data streams from various sources from patterns of data can extend healthcare trend analysis to the higher level of prediction, accuracy and improve models that suffer from complex and long-running analyses. A better response, lower availability requirements and unifying predictive modelling will accelerate healthcare interoperability and thus increase the accuracy of diagnoses, put the evidence-based medicine (EBM) in the right direction and other healthcare benefits which increase optimum outcomes and quality.
From the very beginning of information technology usage in healthcare, the data producing was always in the matter. Either, the simple patient personal records or various medical treatment descriptions, it always needs to be a countable amount of data in digital form.
On the other hand, overall technological advances have made medical devices become smarter and, therefore, the ability to produce a higher amount of data. In addition, computer networking and the Internet have enabled data exchange both in the local (hospital) and in the Geo-global environment. Besides medical devices, most of the power supplied devices around us became also smarter. Vehicles, trains, planes, lights, watches, parking garages… get a common denominator in the world of smart devices and it is called the Internet of Things (IoT) - with the basic idea of connecting all devices to each other. The IoT can be understood as the natural evolution of the web as it merges information technology and many other operational technologies. It links more than ordinary life devices – it connects all that devices containing such a sensors collection. By connecting and networking a common thread is IoT based machinery that uses data streams as its fuel.
The digital revolution led by IoT (i4.0) has not bypassed the sphere of the healthcare.
Considering all the verticals in healthcare, regardless of whether new technologies are applied - in a hospital environment or in personal use by patients, it is evident that they are the part of the change in the healthcare industry at all – from the much based IoT eHealth wearable devices up to sophisticated medical sensors.
Leveraging new trends, the healthcare is going to be revolutionized in methods where every patient comes to the ability to interact with any subject of new technology and also to each other. From that point of view, the healthcare institutions are already suffering on how to share data between different platforms. Another weak point is an inability to hold a secure data at the physical and logical level. Blockchain appears as a promising - near future answer to this data integrity dilemma. It allows better collaboration on data level between payers and providers adopting the principle of secure store of electronic medical records. If it is true, the providers can count of a higher probability in diagnosis accuracy by feeding healthcare information systems with tons of data.
However, all of us who are participants in the newly created technological era sometimes wonder what is actually happening, where is all this leading? Is there a particular benefit that is focused on increasing the quality of health services and patients themselves will become mere consumers of innovative achievements?
Seen from the side of the patient, who is participating in the innovative world and the primarily intended benefit is enormous. Availability of various sensors and diagnostic elements integrated into mobile communication devices to quickly and simplified patient contact your physician and clinical centers. This mode has shortened the path to obtaining a timely diagnosis and simultaneously helps the patient.
Not taking into account all the technological and technical obstacles such as lack of interoperability and different standards in terms of integration, we come back to the starting point of view of that unique element which is concomitantly building block or the end product and that's the - data. In our case, these are the data of the patient. Whether this is just a basis for the identification of a patient in the system (EHR) or used as an expanded set of data in the analysis and prediction of disease and diagnosis, the data is potential, high risk factor. Seen from the patient as a consumer, if its data is vulnerable - and he himself is at risk.
In the process of data collection from points of origin to its final destination, securing the data is required under the HIPAA compliance. But in practice, it turned out that due to deficiencies in the security standards should lead to greater involvement of the IT sector in the field of data protection and increased interoperability.
A new technology such as Blockchain is very promising in terms of increasing interoperability, security transfer and exchange of information. As the information is distributed over the network(s), Blockchain especially has become as a solution to establish the trust of all the factors in the world of digital healthcare. Also, all challenges addressing the security of protected health information (PHI) and HIPAA compliance has an opportunity as a solver tech by using Blockchain encrypted data and its validated replication over the network.
From another standpoint, the healthcare data are very complex. They are built of various data formats, images and videos, sometimes non-structured up to structured data. All that is the representation of a single health record of the patient. Such patient records, time-stamped and signed by using a private key under the Blockchain can be distributed without losing data integrity and make the stairway to deep learning, a new technology based approach in healthcare data analysis and prediction. Putting them together, the principle of secure, valid and distributed health information is likely to be closer to goal of the healthcare interoperability and precision medicine with promise to unlock access to all population health data.
In addition, the caregivers, community of people, doctors, patients, insurances and all other health information consumers, by being a part of Blockchain reduces a fraud in healthcare payments.
