Tel Aviv-based Proof Work is envisioning a future where patients own and control their own medical data in a decentralized system, where data is secured by the blockchain. The system, if successful, would be a big disruption to how health care data is handled today - where it's often accessible only by the doctors and hospitals themselves, and where patients have to make special requests to have a copy of their own medical records.
In addition, today's data isn't easily shared between doctors. That means patients visiting a new doctor will often have to repeat their medical history all over again, or explain their current ailments.
Proof Work, which presented today onstage as the wildcard company at Disrupt Berlin Startup Battlefield, believes the system should be simpler. The company is building tools that will allow healthcare companies to put their apps and services on the blockchain, as well as a tool - likely in the form of a mobile app first - that will allow patients to upload their own medical data to this blockchain-powered system.
"It's a big try," admits co-founder David Suter. "But we want to go patient-first."
"As somebody who walks into a doctor or a hospital, there are many moving parts that are put into place behind the scenes in order to make sure we get the right level of care, the right treatment. All those moving parts are siloed," Suter says. "What blockchain allows through smart contracts is to put all those moving parts on a longitudinal line in order to talk to each other."
In the future, the goal is to allow patients to walk into a doctor's office with all their medical records already on their phone.
"It's a big undertaking; It's not going to happen overnight," he adds.
Source: Tech Crunch (View full article)
Posted by Dan Corcoran on December 6, 2017 06:18 AM
Post a comment