NFTs in Healthcare: Is it Hype or Dope?

Non-fungible tokens or NFTs in healthcare provide a unique opportunity for the  patients

Non-fungible tokens, often known as NFTs, were first issued in 2014. NFTs are designed to function as certificates of authenticity, as opposed to cryptocurrencies, which may be used as a store of value or a kind of digital cash. They let you own a fraction of a digital asset's representation. NFTs in healthcare provide a special potential since people, not businesses, own their health data. Instead of letting businesses profit from their data as in the past, patients may utilize this level of autonomy to monetize it.

In the US, over 1.2 billion dollars of clinical documentation are created annually, but 80% of that data is unstructured and open to abuse and theft. Patient ignorance about the eventual destination of their healthcare data is one of the main problems with it. There are now few major businesses dominating the market for healthcare data sharing, giving patients little reason to participate in determining who has access to their data. Sensitive medical data, such as hospital records or genetic markups, has become a very valuable commodity as AI and big data become more and more crucial to drug research. Frequently, such data is acquired, transferred, or sold without the patients' knowledge or agreement.

How Can NFTs in Healthcare Prove Beneficial?

1.Enabling Patients to Manage and Earn Money from Their Data

When NFTs are used to collect medical data, they might act as a de-identified and patient-controlled version of a person's medical records, with stringent guidelines for how the information can be collected and used. NFTs also have a built-in function that the owner may monitor. Patients would be able to trace the whereabouts of their medical information and punish those responsible for its unauthorized use accountable. Every time they permit a firm to utilize their data, they will also receive royalties.

2. Enticing People to Take Part in Studies and Clinical Trials

By allowing patients to submit their data and benefit from it, businesses that offer digital health services can adopt an NFT approach to entice patients to engage in research. Through a digital marketplace, patients might be contacted directly by other third parties that wish to utilize the data for study or to develop new goods. Patients now have the choice to reveal their data in a more educated manner, which is the main distinction between this system and the previous one. The underlying blockchain technology and an NFT certification might hence increase transparency about the use of patient data and give individuals control over their medical records.

3. Improving the Blood Banks' Supply Chain

Numerous blood donation organizations have already started employing this technology and promoting NFT blood donations. An individual token that can be traced across the system is issued to blood donors. From the moment the donation is transported to the hospital, through the blood bank, and to its target recipient, it may then be traced. After that, the blood is stored in a virtual "blood bank" via its NFT, where the demand for different blood types can be tracked using a blockchain system and dispersed to the areas that need it the most.

4. Assisting in the Fight Against Fake Medicines

Blockchain and NFTs have the potential to speed up the verification process, which will aid in the fight against fake pharmaceuticals. NFTs leave behind digital traces or a "token ID" that is permanently attached to an object. Each NFT's uniqueness is determined by the data included in its metadata, which refers to priceless digital assets that are updated in real-time on the blockchain. By creating an immutable ledger record, NFTs reduce or perhaps eliminate discrepancies and apparent fraud. NFTs may protect and expedite the tracking process for medications, enabling mistakes to be found immediately. This suggests that any issues, including locating and removing illicit prescriptions from the system, may be fixed considerably more swiftly.

5. Protecting the Information from Health Monitoring Applications

With the popularity and acceptability of wearables, at-home exercise equipment, and other health-tracking devices growing, more individuals are asking how to use health data efficiently while controlling it properly. Entrepreneurs are embracing NFTs as a way to decentralize data collection, increase access, and give patients back ownership of their health information because they see an opportunity in them. This enables them to respond to consumer concerns about data privacy and security and safeguard users' data from misuse, theft, and cyberattacks.