Blockchain comes to Philippine healthcare system

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Blockchain-based healthcare platform HEX Innovation Ltd has partnered with the University of Perpetual Help Dalta Medical Center (UPHDMC) in the Philippines, giving Filipinos access to services powered by blockchain technology.

According to HEX, personal health information will become more accessible among health institutions, and at reduced costs, with the use of its platform.

In the company’s press release, it stated that UPHDMC was one of the highest-ranked hospitals in the country for a variety of services.

The company’s Chief Marketing Officer Alexander Richards said that, after discussions with the Philippine Department of Health, as well as with major private and state-owned hospitals in the country, HEX’s understanding of the Philippine healthcare system has increased.

HEX noted in its whitepaper that information asymmetry between patients and healthcare providers was a persistent problem, as information tended to be kept in medical institutions. “By using blockchain for personal health record management, it is possible to overcome complicated legal regulations related to personal record security by excluding the involvement of third parties and managing individuals’ own health information as a subject,” the whitepaper read.

The company has issued HEX tokens, awarded to patients for the use of data on them as part of research or surveys by members of the healthcare sector.

In its initial coin offering (ICO) presale this year, HEX managed to raise $20 million.

Other companies developing blockchain-based solutions in healthcare are phone maker BlackBerry, which stressed the importance of providing anonymous, accurate data to medical institutions.

Startup Akiri, has raised $10 million in funding for its Akiri Switch network.

The Austrian government has announced its support of UK-based Lancor Scientific, which will be engaging in cancer screening with the use of blockchain and AI for accuracy. Already, a device developed by Lancor detects cervical cancer at 90% accuracy, and screens other forms of cancer as well.