The healthcare industry is primed for a revolution as the convergence of blockchain, cryptocurrency, virtual reality and artificial intelligence begin to take hold.
The medical industry has traditionally been slow to adopt new technologies, but blockchain, augmented reality and virtual reality technologies are changing that thought process. Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
$4 trillion in 2020, due to the adoption of new and emerging health technologies. The medical industry has traditionally been slow to adopt new technologies, until proven safe. However, this is beginning to change with more companies starting to experiment with the technology in order to improve transparency and accountability within healthcare systems.
Blockchain for transparency
There are a number of flaws in the medical industry: healthcare hierarchy, data ownership and data security to name a few. There have also been occurrences where a mix of health records or unknown history in an emergency could lead to potentially life-threatening situations.
Blockchain is quickly becoming a critical need for the digitization of healthcare. It can allow decentralized communities controlled democratically via smart contracts — meaning that everyone has a record of what's happened in the digital world. By creating a network and regulating it by patients, third parties are excluded and increasing adoption. This can go for storing and managing health or insurance information, making it an ideal tool for ensuring transparency and accountability within healthcare systems. The power would be put in the patient's hands, allowing them to manage their own care through a patient-centered model.