Is there a Blockchain Future for Healthcare?

Jody Ranck, DrPH, CEO of Krysalis Labs, CSO of health bankDecember 2, 2015

HL7 Policy ConferencePrecision Medicine: Innovation, Interoperability and Policy

The Next Evolution of IT?

What is Blockchain?

• Distributed, cryptographic transaction ledger• Platform that Bitcoin is built upon• Tech protocol layer similar to TCP/IP• Transactions posted (transparent) and verified with

time stamp• Encryption Keys but ledger is transparent• Enables decentralized approaches to databases,

organizations, transactions without intermediaries• Trustless networks

IoT Use Case

Source: IBM

New Forms of Collaboration

• Smart contracts-remove trust intermediary and execute upon completion of task, ie. Programmable web

• Distributed Applications (DAPP)- app that executes a contract on Blockchain (Ethereum) eg. Storj, a file storage app like Dropbox

• Decentralized Autonomous Organization/Corporation: AI and smart contracts, potential applications to insurance, adjudicating claims

Health Use Cases (Swan)• Medical Banking: disintermediating counterparties • Distributed EHR: trust?• Inventory management• Research Commons and Remunerative Models for Data Sharing• Notarization/Identity Verification (insurance)• Open bazaar for services/transparency in pricing/health

property exchange• Collaborative tool/crowdsourcing• health bank 2.0: remunerative commons• Peer-to-Peer insurance

Privacy & Security on Blockchain

• Decentralize storage of record• But centralized platform for

certification/recording transactions• Multi-sig address for each patient record• Patient has private key• Every provider has a universal signature with

hospital having same

Applications Outside of Health

• IoT- micro/nano-payments• Counterparty clearance in finance• Smart Property- track provenance/anti-

counterfeit• Real-time/contextual forms of insurance• DNA.bits: integrating genomic and clinical

data, sharing securely, HIPAA compliant

Challenges to Blockchain

• Throughput- processes 1 transaction per second

• 51% attack- one mining entity takes control• Sidechains and interoperability• Confidence in storing data in decentralized

fashion• Regulatory uncertainty• Business models

The End

• Contact: jody@krysalislabs.com• Jody.ranck@healthbank.coop