John D. Halamka, MD, CIO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and dean of technology for Harvard Medical School, both in Boston, discussed his thoughts on how blockchain will be used in the healthcare industry during an April 4 interview with athenaInsight.
Here are four thoughts he shared during the interview.
1. On being realistic about blockchain in healthcare. "I'm now the editor-in-chief of a new journal, Blockchain in Healthcare Today," he said. "In my editorial in the premiere issue, I say, 'Let's be really careful when we use the term 'blockchain' in healthcare. Because it's not going to save us all. But there are a number of use cases where it's actually very helpful.'"
2. On one pragmatic entry point for blockchain. "On occasion, physicians are sued for malpractice. And when that happens, a plaintiff attorney will say, 'Seven years ago, this happened to my patient. Send me every medical record you have from seven years ago.' And we do. And they say, 'Oh, no, these are fake. Somebody changed them, redacted them because they're covering up their error,'" Dr. Halamka said.
"Imagine this scenario instead: A clinician writes a note, seals a record, and a hash — a data input/output function — of that record is written into a blockchain," he continued. "An attorney request medical records, and you say, 'Here's the public ledger that's been there for seven years with a hash value.'"
3. On why blockchain won't replace the EHR. "How many transactions a second at Beth Israel Deaconess do we have in our EHR? 12,000. What is the total throughput of the blockchain today? Seven transactions a second," he said. "Remember, the blockchain is a ledger of data integrity. It is not a database. … The blockchain is just an added layer for some additional functions."
4. On why physicians won't see a change in daily operations. "Blockchain is unlikely to replace EHRs," he said. "However, blockchain is very useful for proof-of-work, auditing and data integrity. … Practicing docs can expect blockchain to be an invisible technology behind the scenes that provides enhanced security and information verification as practices increasingly depend upon digitized information."
To access Dr. Halamka's interview, click here.