Developing Blockchain for the NHS
A number of companies are developing blockchain for the NHS. As the world’s largest publicly funded health service, the NHS has one of the most comprehensive health datasets in existence.
Google’s DeepMind health have been developing an administration record system that uses blockchain technology.
Since 2015, the Google lab has been working with the NHS and have already developed lifesaving technology.
However, the relationship has not been plain sailing. Whilst working with Royal Free London NHS Trust, they received 1.6 million patient records, which provoked uproar and led to a misconduct ruling from UK’s Information Commission (ICO).
Medicalchain is a startup that has received a lot of support and attention internationally. Created with Hyperledger Fabric and currently running their pilot scheme, they are also working with the NHS.
Co-Founder Dr. Abdullah Albayetti works for the NHS, allowing them to develop the technology with first hand ‘insider’ knowledge, addressing the problems for health professionals and patients alike.
Funded by an ICO, MedToken is the crypto-currency for the platform.
Patients may be unaware that their data is sometimes sold to pharmaceutical and research institutions. The platform will give patients the choice to submit their data for research. In return for participation they receive MedTokens.
“Medicalchain platform will provide the users with a full log of who has access to their medical data, the time of access and the particular types of data that can be accessed.”
In recent weeks, we have seen Amazon’s AWS Blockchain investment arm call out for more medical innovations.
With the development of blockchain for the NHS, a more efficient service should mean the patients are the biggest winners.
