Dubai Tests Blockchain for Securing Electronic Health Records

DUBAI -- In a proof of concept for NMC Healthcare, due early in 2018, a pilot will test blockchain for data integrity, security and patient trust in managing and sharing electronic health records among health providers.

The blockchain pilot will be structured so that NMC can be 100 percent certain of the accuracy of retrieved electronic health records, according to last month's announcement.

Use of blockchain to secure and share patient health information allows patients to consult any doctor in the NMC system, and expect a seamless interaction.

Today, majority of health records are on paper such as blood test reports, x-rays, etc. Most hospitals don’t have shared access of patients’ records which is  inconvenient to the patient and time consuming at the end for the doctor or the care giver," said Carlos Domingo, du chief new business and innovation officer.

Digitizing medical records through blockchain will also assist NMC in managing a crisis, disease and outbreaks with data analytics tools that can be created.

Du, a member of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Global Blockchain Council, is partnering with Guardtime, a company which delivers the security of medical records through blockchain in Estonia.

The goal is to deliver end-to-end accountability of electronic health records as part of the UAE's overall goal of securing all government records in the blockcahin by 2020, according to Domingo.

Read the original story on The Blockchain News' website.