Blockchain technology in Healthcare and Optometry

The virtual world that we live in, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, needs to be supported by technologies that ensure our online transactions and transfer of information are efficient, safe as well as accurate. The idea behind what distributed ledger technology can provide in terms of achievements is what none of the network subscribers can achieve on his own. It helps in developing distributed networks that guarantee trust, transparency, and accurate distribution of gain and risk without having to jeopardize either privacy or economic usefulness.
Blockchain is a technology solution that can solve the issue of fakeness. In the context of healthcare, this can be applied to prevent fake things like fake or incomplete medical records, fake medications, fake vaccines, fake services, and fake procedures lacking audit and traceability.
Cryptographic signatures and protocols in a network of interrelated organizations, individual healthcare providers, and patients provide an environment of safe, trusted, and accurate exchange of information. The impact could be relevant to academia, the supply chain, pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, as well as outpatient clinics.
The number one use of blockchain distributed ledger technology governed by smart contracts in the medical industry could be in scholarly research and publishing. It facilitates data provenance, data flow, and optimizes peer-reviewing processes. Distributed ledger technology can help advance research and breakthrough in genomics.
The distributed ledger technology in Optometry and healthcare can be envisioned in many areas other than scholarly research and genomics. This includes:
The medical supply chain: where blockchain enables the creation of a ledger that traces the pharmaceutical product down to where it is first manufactured and continues every step of the way through shipping, handling, and distribution until it is delivered to the patient.
Electronic Medical Record management: where blockchain enables each patient to share his data with other providers using a private key.
Shifting to more personalized care: where blockchain creates a system where various authorized users can access all the patient stored data that are always updated and provide a better diagnosis.
In billing and payment for healthcare: blockchain enables the employment of cryptocurrency to pay for drugs, accommodations for family members around hospitals, and everything that can be ordered to the patient room.
Blockchain embodies a mentality based on the consensus that working together without jeopardizing privacy will lead to a more sustainable habitat that none of us can achieve on his own.