On August 8th, 2017, the Illinois Blockchain
Initiative announced
a pilot program in partnership with Hashed Health to use blockchain technology
to streamline the medical credentialing process in the state. By exploring
opportunities through distributed ledger technologies, the program could be
able to reduce the complexity of licensing and credentialing. The program will
look to provide a new blockchain-based registry to act as a repository for
credentialing data.
Eric Fish, senior vice president of legal services at the
Federation of State Medical Boards, praised the initiative, remarking
that, “If successful, this effort may prompt other state medical boards, as
well as others within healthcare, to investigate potential benefits that can be
derived from the use of distributed ledgers, and may ultimately result in a
more efficient regulatory process without any sacrifice to patient safety.”
To read more on the pilot program, see the full story at Health IT Analytics.
Blockchain technology is a decentralized peer-to-peer system
through which digital transactions are created, shared, verified, and stored.
This technology consists of three main components: a distributed network, a
shared ledger, and digital transactions. The network is the basic skeleton of
the blockchain: individual network members generate, verify, and store data on
the blockchain, instead of contributing to one central database. The ledger
provides a mechanism to share and verify information in the network, protecting
the data from tampering and ensuring quick and easy verification of the
information within. Finally, a digital transaction is the actual act of
generating or verifying data.
NAMSS is continuing to monitor the development of blockchain
technology in healthcare, especially with regards to the credentialing process.
In May, we hosted our 4th annual Government Relations Industry
Roundtable, entitled Building Blocks for
the Future. A panel of NAMSS staff, stakeholders and strategic partners
discussed the impact of blockchain and its potential applications for the
industry. Be on the lookout for further information from NAMSS on blockchain
technology and its potential impacts on MSPs!
