The hype surrounding blockchain technology’s potential to radically change the health care industry continues to escalate, and some companies are already working to deploy practical applications.
In a bid to battle the ongoing opioid crisis, according to a Healthcare IT News report, IBM been working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to develop a blockchain-enabled system that would boost public health agencies’ abilities to survey prescription practices and patient handling by hospitals and physicians.
Intel has also entered that arena by partnering with pharmaceutical titans to utilize blockchain as a tool to better track how pills are being distributed.
Intel’s director of healthcare privacy and security David Houlding told Bloomberg the method could “vastly reduce the opioid epidemic.”
“I would not say this will eliminate the opioid problem, but this will help,” he said.
