According to a recent survey, around 60% of the respondents believe that blockchain will have the greatest impact in the storage of medical records. This will also include genomic data, which is the fastest growing dataset in the world.
Greatest impact of blockchain in healthcare industry
The latest research comes from The Pistoia Alliance, which is a global organization made up of life science companies, publishers, technology and service providers, and academic groups working in order to lower barriers to innovation in the field of life science and healthcare R&D.
Interest in blockchain is high
The survey of senior pharmaceutical and life science leaders revealed that interest in blockchain is pretty much high. Around 83% are expecting blockchain to be adopted in under 5 years. Therefore during this early adoption phase, the Pistoia Alliance is urging stakeholders to collaborate on the creation of industry-wide data sharing standards. Such standards will, in turn, improve security and render patients more likely to share their data with companies; thus benefitting everyone from researchers to patients, both now and in the future.
Hurdle in its adoption
According to a study, while blockchain offers a potential data housing solution, however, there are several hurdles to its widespread adoption in life sciences. When asked about hurdle, life science leaders identified the biggest hurdle as regulatory issues with 45 percent, just followed by concerns over data privacy with 26 percent.
Blockchain will have the greatest impact in pharmaceuticals
When it comes to using cases of blockchain in pharmaceuticals and healthcare, one of the possible application is support of the supply chain by ensuring an auditable trail so as to safeguard drug provenance. More than two-thirds with around 68 percent of pharmaceutical and life science leaders believe that blockchain will have the greatest impact in this area.
What Nick Lynch said:
Nick Lynch, the consultant for The Pistoia Alliance said, “The dynamics of power are changing and patients today have become more empowered—we are seeing a shift to a transformative age of ‘the patient will see you now'”. He added, ‘In the future, patients will even have the possibility of monetising access to their personal data, giving individual companies access to ‘blocks’ of their data for research purposes. This shift—where patients have access to and control over how their data is used—is changing the entire model of healthcare from early R&D all the way to frontline delivery. Ultimately, patients will want to manage their personal data the way they manage their bank accounts. The life sciences industry must collaboratively explore solutions that enable patients to do this while ensuring they retain access to data for their own R&D efforts’.
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Date: June 29, 2017