Patients hitting their health targets could reap rewards in聽cryptocurrencies believes Charlotte Lewis, associate in the commercial聽healthcare team at international聽law firm Hill Dickinson.
Using聽Blockchain and聽FinTech such as cryptocurrency to help the public take control of their own healthcare could also reduce the strain on services.
鈥淭here was an NHS campaign where if smokers could quit and stay off it for period of time they got a voucher,鈥� Lewis told 老九品茶Cloud.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not a huge leap to see how cryptocurrency could incentivise patients to take responsibility for their own healthcare.
鈥淔or example, if my Apple Watch was linked to my health record and I hit my steps each day I get a coin and that builds up. I could use it to upgrade my bedroom next time I鈥檓 an inpatient 鈥� there would be a way to make that money flow back around the system.鈥�
Cryptocurrency and its underlying Blockchain technology could also make patients safer, and help protect health practitioners from expensive lawsuits.
鈥淏lockchain provides you with really robust evidence,鈥� said Lewis.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a trust scenario which comes up a lot in consent cases where the patient say 鈥業 was never told that鈥� and the doctor say 鈥榳ell it鈥檚 written in the records鈥�, and a patient might insist someone鈥檚 written it in later.
鈥淚t might seem farfetched but it鈥檚 a very real issue. In America it鈥檚 used because they鈥檙e far more litigious than this country so there鈥檚 more investment in it because they can cut their claims.鈥�
The technology could also help with the issue of making patient records available and easily accessible to all the people who need it says Hill Dickinson partner Sarah Brook. This could help deliver life-saving care as fast as possible.
鈥淭he theory is that no matter where you鈥檙e taken ill in the country someone can access accurate data about what鈥檚 wrong with you and what you need,鈥� she said.
鈥淔rom a patient record perspective that was always the dream. Historically we use different IT systems and big programmes across the NHS but this does it in a different way that doesn鈥檛 rely on lots of different systems working with each other.
鈥淚t could be a huge step change in the way that patient data and records are used and made available but you can still do it in a way that鈥檚 secure and theoretically controllable by the patient themselves.鈥�
There are issues that need to be worked out before this can become a reality though, says Lewis.
Medical records need to be confidential but the nature of Blockchain relies on a number of people being able to view the data. This is how the technology assures transparency and accuracy.
鈥淏lockchain is supposed to increase security but that鈥檚 done by greater transparency because it has to be verified by a large number of people,鈥� she said.
鈥淭he only way to make it better is to have a bigger pool of computers as part of the chain but then how does that sit with people and with GDPR?
鈥淎lso with information stored in cloud-based systems, how do you erase it because on the Blockchain you can鈥檛 erase it, that鈥檚 the point.
鈥淭here are lots of questions about making this fit in with data protection.鈥�