Taiwanese Hospital Launches Blockchain Platform for Record Keeping

Taiwanese Hospital Launches Blockchain Platform for Record Keeping

As part of efforts to consolidate the government’s Hierarchical Medical system policy, Taipei Medical University Hospital has introduced a blockchain-driven platform for the advancement of medical record-keeping.

The Healthcare Blockchain Platform will be used to improve patient referral services and integrates individual healthcare networks for people to access their medical records with relative ease, according to a report on Taipei Times.

In a statement released by the hospital, the platform will be a one-stop referral and long-term care service in support of the government Hierarchical Medical System policy.

The Project incorporated the collaboration of over 100 community-based clinics and employed the use of blockchain technology in addressing “common pain points” in healthcare. These include the transfer of data between medical institutions, personal patient portals and physician referral process, the hospital wrote.

“Using smart contracts, hospitals and clinics can request and authorize patient record sharing easily and securely,” the report noted.

Hospital superintendent Chen Ray-jade, who spoke to the news outlet, said the technology would provide an avenue to synchronize electronic medical records with electronic health records from various clinics and hospitals. It would also come with a security feature of notification and consent before any transfer occurs.

Taipei has only followed the path of other healthcare establishments in the world using ledger technology in the management of medical data.

Earlier in August, a medical big data ecosystem meant for the storage and secured transfer of sensitive genomic and personal information was jointly developed by South Korean biotech enterprise Macron and local tech firm, Bigster. The move is expected to reshape the global medical landscape by allowing for secure storage and transfer of large amounts of sensitive genomic and personal information through the blockchain.

German Camelot Consulting Group also introduced a similar blockchain technology developed for the management of sensitive medical data in April.