US National Cancer Institute Approves Blockchain For Data Sharing Project

The National Cancer Institute is the agency of the US Department of Health and Human Services, which approved a project to create a blockchain-based clinical data sharing system. The exchange of medical data and the blockchain have the potential to upgrade the entire healthcare system, providing faster and more accurate access to information.

The National Cancer Institute approved the project on its blog, stating that the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is going to use the IBM Hyperledger blockchain to share clinical data between healthcare providers, patients and the research community.

It is noted in the blog that the agency seeks to develop methods of maintaining confidentiality to protect the identity of patients when receiving images. Also, the message says:

“Failure in timely access to health information could impede effective treatment decision-making, which will adversely affect patient health, and also incur unnecessary costs such as duplicated tests. Regulations on protecting patient privacy add a layer of complexity in data transfer.”

The introduction of blockchain-based technology will improve security and confidentiality while providing the flexibility to provide data.

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