Blockchain Applications: The Solution to Data Breaches in Healthcare

Organizations are making the switch to blockchain, which has many applications in the finance and healthcare industries. One application of blockchain in the medical field are health data NFT’s. Non-fungible tokens can secure an individual's health records and prevent instances of identity theft and fraud.

Data breaches are increasing in frequency in businesses across the country, and the healthcare industry is no exception.

Data breaches cost hospitals about $6.5 million on average. This number is made up not only for the cost of the initial breach, but the costs of solving the problem as well as the lost revenue from damaged trust. Hospitals have to hire lawyers, cybersecurity experts, as well as pay a team to send out patient notifications. Once patients know about their information being compromised, they are more likely to change providers and that can also have financial consequences to the hospital. With all of the moving parts to solve data breaches, small to medium sized healthcare organizations spend about $2.5 million to recover.

If the cost is so high, why are data breaches so common? One reason is that much of the security software that is used in healthcare is very outdated. This older software leaves large holes in security that make it easier for hackers to obtain patients’ data. Many medical devices that are used in hospitals are made by companies that are no longer in business, with implanted interconnected devices being very hackable. With this outdated software, providers lack the awareness and resources to be able to securely keep patient information. Most hospitals don’t even have full-time cybersecurity employees!

The tension between cybersecurity experts and providers doesn’t help, as experts try to fix problems with old software but providers don’t install the new updates. Many providers think that cybersecurity experts are over exaggerating the severity of security problems within the healthcare system and are more worried about protecting the physical privacy of patients. What providers don’t realize is that cybersecurity threats directly risk patient privacy, and by ignoring warnings by cybersecurity they are endangering their patients information.

To solve these problems, healthcare organizations are making the switch to blockchain, which has many applications in the healthcare industry. Blockchain is a more secure way to store patient data, with information being split into fragmented systems that are harder to hack. Blockchain also keeps a ledger for recording transactions and tracking assets, meaning there is more transparency about who is viewing information.

Blockchain can be used in the medical field in remote monitoring systems. These devices can monitor things such as blood pressure, pulse, sleep apnea, narcolepsy, and even epileptic seizures.

Monitoring devices that are powered by blockchain store information in a patient hub that contains all the health records for that person. This information is easier to access by providers and makes it so that care can be administered more efficiently, benefiting both the patient and the provider. Wearable devices also record patient data in real time so that providers have an accurate report of their health remotely. Using block-chain powered devices is less costly than current devices, and their user-friendly model makes it so that the level of human error is significantly decreased.

Another application of blockchain in the medical field are health data NFT’s. Non-fungible tokens can secure an individual’s health records and prevent instances of identity theft and fraud. Providers could also be sure that the data is genuine if they are providing care remotely through a telehealth system. Telehealth can lead to identity theft since patients are sharing data remotely and have no way of knowing if their information is being compromised by third parties. Using NFT’s would take away this risk for both patients and providers, and patients could even profit off their information if they chose to share data with third parties rather than it being hacked and stolen.

READ MORE AT TABBFORUM.COM