I was speaking with a VC the other day about Blockchain and he asked me, " what can it do for me that other technology aren't already doing?" I asked him to elaborate" He proceeded to mention we already have security, communication, interoperability (to some extent). I retorted, yes, but they are failing, e.g., many breaches and most EHR are not connected.
Where I see a difference in Blockchain; it's is a simple, transparent and secure framework to solve a difficult problem(s).
Blockchain wouldn't store PHI, however it stores the location of the data, the links to the other associated record on that chain, and the hashcode which is used to verify the integrity and provenance of the data. The blocks are verified, non-reputable and the security is provided by Public Key Infrastructure (PKI).
The real reason to use Blockchain is the simplicity and transparency and yes, you can do a lot of the same things with existing models. Same thing that they said about horses when the auto showed up.
Distributive Ledger AKA Blockchain have been around for quite a while, Bitcoin just brought the technology front and center. Application like Bitcoin may fail however the infrastructure that supports the application will stay around.
I like the old saying that my chief architect used to say to me years ago, "Yes, you can drive your car with your feet, but why would you want to".
If you are interested in reading about another use of Blockchain in healthcare check our Peter B. Nichol and my submission to the ONC Blockchain Challenge, Birth of the CryptoCitizen for Healthcare in CIO.
