By The healthcare industry is independently reviving as web3 expands. Read more in this article.
The major goals of Web 1.0 for the healthcare industry were patient access to their health records and bill payment, but with Web 2.0, the emphasis shifted to cloud-based infrastructure. As Web3 is based on the principles of blockchain technology and encourages networks that are permissionless, trustless, and open, we are already witnessing a significant shift.
Patient access to their health information and bill payment were the main objectives of Web 1.0 for the healthcare sector, but with Web 2.0, the focus changed to cloud-based infrastructure. We are already observing a huge shift since Web3 promotes networks that are permissionless, trustless, and open and are founded on blockchain technology principles. Web3 can give people control over their health information and is still being developed for the healthcare sector. With Web3, access to healthcare is made simpler, and people have more control over their own healthcare experiences. Data processing is now more efficient than ever thanks to developments in artificial intelligence and machine learning, enabling precise predictions that are intended to satisfy consumer requests.
The use of Web3 in healthcare will transform the industry since many individuals and companies are concentrating on raising the security and calibre of online healthcare services. For innovations like telemedicine, online health communities, and healthcare apps that make the healthcare system less complex and more accessible, we can argue that Web3 is safer and more secure. Advanced networked telemedicine portals are in high demand as a result of the growing demand for enhanced security and efficiency in the healthcare industry. These portals enable healthcare practitioners to connect with numerous patients in remote locations, increasing access to healthcare. Decentralized data networks and edge computing provide the patient more ownership and control over their data by eliminating the intermediary or third party.
With the advent of Web3, proactive healthcare is entering a new era where we can listen to and learn from our data. Web3 in healthcare creates a more equitable internet that will provide us with greater application running capabilities on a decentralized platform, fewer data breaches, and more freedom. The adoption of new technology within the healthcare ecosystem to establish a suitable technological infrastructure is crucial to realizing the promise of blockchain and Web3 for the Indian healthcare sector. India’s healthcare industry can deliver safety, along with optimism and prosperity, using Web3 and the appropriate regulations and regulatory framework. Although Web 2.0 has accelerated tremendous technological advancement in the healthcare industry, user privacy and data breaches are becoming more of a problem as the internet moves towards its natural development. With Web3 and blockchain technology as the underlying technologies, healthcare will become safer and more efficient on a larger scale.
When data is accessible, innovation will follow
What does all of this mean for healthcare? In other words, Web3 can provide the infrastructure required for consumers to allow access to their health information to a range of stakeholders, such as physicians and outside apps. These third-party apps and stakeholders would no longer be relying on strong monopolies to access patient data. By utilizing patient data directly, businesses can now provide patients with easy and engaging ways to access and gain insights from their health data.
Of course, this is extremely unlike what occurs now. Patient data is now stored on EHR platforms like Cerner and Epic. The federal government wants to communicate data efficiently. As a result, many healthcare practitioners and third-party applications are frequently compelled to work with a restricted understanding of a patient’s whole medical history. The utility of health applications is constrained by this restricted access to patient data. This lack of access can also result in unneeded testing, ineffective treatment, and increased expenditures in a healthcare environment.
Perhaps our only chance is a blockchain-based health data system. The therapeutic efforts of doctors will be supported, and patients will be empowered. I have high hopes for the future. After all, app capabilities are already developed, and blockchain technology is rapidly growing. Patients’ data will no longer be tightly controlled by EHR players like Cerner and Epic (which still function in a Web2 environment) because of broad data sharing throughout the healthcare system. The blockchain will allow patients to control who has access to their health information. Giving these access to third-party app developers will encourage innovation. App developers will be able to offer fresh and inventive methods for patients and providers to access and transmit data, as well as draw health insights from, with access to enormous volumes of patient data. Patients and doctors would have access to, be able to evaluate, and transmit patient data using more inventive and user-friendly interfaces as opposed to being restricted to the current EHR apps. In other words, if you let the data flow, Web3 will make the healthcare system more patient-centric.
There will be a lot more advantages as well. For instance, Web3’s decentralized autonomous organizations might revolutionize the health insurance sector (DAOs). Patients would own the insurance pool in a health insurance DAO, which might lower premiums. Patients may eventually be able to bypass numerous payer “toll gates” (like prior authorization requirements and copays) and profit fully from pharmaceutical rebates, which are presently disproportionately reaped by payers through their pharmacy benefit managers. All these advancements would bring pharmaceutical corporations and patients closer together and assist the former in becoming more patient-centric in their marketing initiatives.
