Blockchain Can Make Patients Profit From Personal Health Data
Brian Njuguna Nov 16, 2019 03:33
Jim Nasr, a healthtech expert who is the Vice President of Technology and Innovation at Certara, has forecasted that blockchain could assist patients own, share, and monetize their own health data.
Jim Nasr, a health tech expert who is the Vice President of Technology and Innovation at Certara, has forecasted that blockchain could assist patients' own, share, and monetize their own health data.
During the Healthcare Excellence Through Technology (HETT) conference, Nasr noted that blockchain could permit patients to sell personal data directly and securely to pharmaceutical companies. This approach would, therefore, instigate a massive shake-up in the entire sector.
He asserted that whenever a typical pharmaceutical trial was being conducted, a company at times paid vast amounts of money for niche third-party research. This is touted to change with the introduction of blockchain as patients will be able to interact with pharmaceutical firms directly.
Nasr asserted: “They have to hire the scientists and the pharmacologist. Even though you're the person who is providing the data, everybody else on the way is taking quite a bit of a cut.”
He also added: “Data is generally still siloed. Blockchain skips that, so the patient keeps the money. Maybe you’re not getting thousands of pounds, maybe it's £100 to participate, but then they are getting to interact with you directly.”
Blockchain Offers Computational Trust
Through what he deemed ‘computational trust,’Nasr proclaimed that blockchain could offer patients with a safe, near real-time, and direct access to personal health records.
This capability, once coupled with the Global Positioning System (GPS), could boil down to faster treatment.
Nasr believes that blockchain can drive the in-demand for patient data to unprecedented heights.
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