The human and economic statistics surrounding the opioid epidemic are staggering. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 11.4 million people have misused prescription opioids, and more than 130 people die daily from opioid-related drug overdoses.Moreover, the Society of Actuaries found that the total economic burden of the opioid crisis in the United States from 2015 to 2018 was at least $631 billion. The organization attributed nearly one-third of that cost to extra
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Blockchain Technology in Healthcare | News, Analysis, Insights
Medical Blockchain Credentialing -Lead, Follow or Get Left Behind
There is a lot of buzz surrounding blockchain and its potential to solve some of the fundamental issues present with the current medical credentialing processes. Duplication of efforts results in vast amounts of wasted time and money. This waste ultimately increases the costs of medical services to healthcare consumers. Blockchain, like any other new technology, has its nay-sayers: those that take a fatalistic view of whether it can live up to the hype. These nay-sayers believe everything
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Can Blockchain Technology Fix Healthcare’s Problems? Not Even Close
Blockchain has been making big waves across healthcare, heralded as the technology that’s going to save healthcare.
The excitement is understandable. Just about every segment of healthcare is fragmented — almost to the point of dysfunction. What better way to bind it together than via a digital ledger that affords the ability to securely, privately, and comprehensively track health records? It’s compelling — and it seems healthcare is ready to move full speed ahead with blockchain.
Is
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3 Takeaways From The 2019 HIMSS & Health 2.0 European Conference
The HIMSS & Health 2.0 European Conference attracted over 2,600 delegates from 64 countries to Helsinki in June 2019. While there was a strong focus on healthcare in the Nordics, the conference brought with it a wide variety of vendors from across the globe all looking for new opportunities on the show floor. Our key takeaway – the goal to change mindsets in Europe towards how healthcare can be improved through the use of technology. We look at a few examples below, namely:- Developing
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Blockchain Solve.Care Integrates With Uber Health to Deliver Non-Emergency Medical Transportation for Patients
Solve.Care, a global healthcare platform which uses blockchain technology for the administration, coordination, and payments of healthcare benefits, has announced a partnership with Uber Health, allowing healthcare organizations to provide accessible and affordable rides to patients and caregivers. Integration Details & BenefitsEvery day, 10,000 patients miss or delay care due to a transportation barrier. The partnership will result in the integration of Uber Health’s transportation
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Providence St. Joseph Health Acquires Epic Consulting Firm Bluetree
Providence St. Joseph Health, a national, not-for-profit Catholic health system, announced today that it will acquire Bluetree, an Epic consulting and strategy company that helps health care providers maximize their use of technology. Based in Madison, Wisconsin, and with offices in Denver and New York, Bluetree’s integrated team approach helps health care providers realize higher returns from their Epic EHR platform investment.Acquisition Benefits for Providence St. JosephBy acquiring Bluetree,
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IBM, KPMG, Merck and Walmart to Launch FDA Blockchain Pilot Program
IBM, KPMG, Merck, and Walmart today announced that the companies have been selected by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to be included in a blockchain pilot program in support of the U.S. Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) that addresses requirements to identify, track and trace prescription medicines and vaccines distributed within the United States.Pilot Program OverviewThe FDA pilot program is intended to evaluate the use of blockchain technology to assist drug supply
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Austin Blockchain Collective Creates Healthcare Working Group to Address Healthcare Challenges
The Austin Blockchain Collective announced the Austin Blockchain Collective Healthcare Working Group with an initial membership including local blockchain innovators and Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin. The working group’s mission is to help develop, explore and promote the applications of blockchain technology that has the potential to positively impact health and healthcare outcomes for patients, the broader Austin community and the nation.Launched in March 2018,
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Pfizer, McKesson, Others Join MediLedger’s Blockchain Project Working Group
Leading life sciences and healthcare companies Pfizer Inc., McKesson Corporation, AmerisourceBergen Corporation, and Premier Inc. have joined the MediLedger Project Contracting and Chargebacks working group, a second working group running in parallel to the ongoing DSCSA working group started in 2017. MediLedger is an initiative of Chronicled, Inc., a San Francisco-based technology company, that builds blockchain-powered ecosystems and supply chain solutions.Network VisionMediLedger uses
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FDA Approves Blockchain/IoT Pilot to Track Specialty Prescription Drugs Across 3 States
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a multi-regional pilot studying the use of blockchain-enabled data technology to track and verify specialty prescription drugs, to ensure safety, enhance value and improve health outcomes.Blockchain Pilot Consortium & Implementation TimelineThe pilot consortium is comprised of Rymedi,Temptime/Zebra, Indiana University Health, WakeMed Health & Hospitals, Good Shepherd Pharmacy and its RemediChain project, as well as the Center for
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