Patient provider communication is a vital aspect of healthcare and blockchain technology makes a considerable contribution. Blockchain places patients at the center of the healthcare ecosystem. It improves interoperability and security of health data.
Financial services may be considered as the leading industry in adopting blockchain. But, healthcare is also a promising industry in this aspect according to a PwC survey.
Recently, industry and government stakeholders have supported the use of blockchain, a permanent and shared ledger of online transactions or exchanges with the aim to streamline healthcare operations. Contrary to the traditional database that is centrally located and maintained by a single party, blockchain record is shared among a network of users.
PwC conducted a study to know the attitudes towards blockchain adoption across industries. It polled 600 executives across varied industries worldwide. Majority of the respondents, 84% said that organizations are using blockchain technology atleast to some extent. Although only 15% are live with a blockchain product past the pilot stage.
Executives see potential in blockchain but, they mentioned about many barriers to widescale adoption of the technology. These barriers are:
Regulatory uncertainty – 48%
Lack of trust among users – 45%
Ability to bring a network together – 44%