Just the other day India celebrated her 75^th Independence day, a glorious moment for the largest democracy in the world. Industry leaders unanimously cheered India for being resilient in Covid times and how healthcare has revamped over the years. On 15^th August 2021, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, the Executive Chairperson, Biocon & Biocon Biologics, said, “Technology can be a game-changer for the Indian health sector….The digital health ID initiative can help India develop a universal healthcare system based on electronic health records (EHRs) and e-Health Centres...”(source – IANS). Currently, India’s healthcare industry stands beyond mere hospitals! It incorporates huge medical equipment, devices, telemedicine, clinical trials, medical tourism, health insurance, and more. The Blockchain-led Electronic Health Record(EHR) with AI-based add-ons, is allowing the Indian Healthcare industry to be more patient-centric, promising privacy, security, interoperability of health data in the ecosystem.

What is EHR

EHR is the abbreviated form of Electronic Health Records. EHR is considered to be a comprehensive, detailed health report of an individual which is available in the digital format. Thus, EHRs (Electronic Health Records)are the digital version of patients’ records in real-time. It helps in tracking the clinical progress of a patient and helps to facilitate an improved, evidence-based healthcare decision and care eventually. An EHR consists of the demographics of a patient, his progress notes, medications, problems and vital signs, allergies, immunizations, past medical records/history, radiology reports, laboratory data, and so on. It includes detailed information about a patient’s health profile, traditional health record, behavioral as well as environmental information which is electronically/digitally entered by the healthcare providers throughout his lifetime.

EHR is different from EMR

Though both the terms are often used interchangeably, Electronic Health Records(EHR) are different from Electronic Medical Records (EMR). An EMR is just the digital version of the paper records of medical history about a patient, recorded within a clinician’s place/office. EMR is not shared outside of that clinician’s office. On the other hand, an EHR is a detailed collection of multiple medical records, a comprehensive report of a person’s health journey over the years during lifetime.EHR report is exclusively designed to be shared beyond a healthcare organization, anytime, anywhere.

EHR BENEFITS

1. Hospitals

Hospitals are one of the major beneficiaries of EHRs. Varied departments can access EHR records anytime. For example, a doctor, physician, lab person may need a particular patient’s records for their specific purposes. They‘d just start their system, enter that patient’s id and access required information immediately.No hassles for searching non-digital documents, papers, etc. Thus, hospitals leverage EHR benefits in the following manner:

• Better quality care
• Access to accurate patient information whenever required
• Increased level of interoperability
• Enhanced efficiency & productivity
• Increased Revenues/higher ROI
• Advanced level of data security

2. Pharmaceutical Industry

The pharmaceutical industry (pharma industry) is purely an information intense business. The industry relies on adequate information utilizing them for effectively developing and delivering medicines to patient populations across the country. EHR helps the pharma industry in:

1. Audit-Medication Workflow
2. Data Collection for clinical trials
3. Clinical-trial recruitment
4. Managing documents during clinical trials
5. Drug-safety surveillance
6. Real-time insights supporting decision-making

Thus, EHR helps a pharma company throughout a product’s lifecycle viz., from preclinical to post-marketing phases.

3. Clinical Research & Development

EHRs are providing enhanced opportunities for the clinical research & development sector. EHRs that are interconnected through multiple healthcare networks have the massive potential to prove in research platforms, too. They help in:

• Optimizing varied  clinical trial protocols
• Facilitating patient identification, recruitment
• Providing state-of-the-art security
• Does not require any specific extraction of patient-level data from clinics, hospitals

4. Patients

Healthcare teams face a major challenge while dealing with patients’ data and keeping them safe.EHRs help patients to see their data exclusively through their unique identity and access authorization. They keep track of the detail like who has accessed data before, what time, how many times, and what did the individual do while accessing those records. EHRs keep all information safe from anyone who doesn’t have authorized access to see patients’ data. Thus, EHRS help Patients:

• Have access through own EHRs with unique patient portal
• Can read, or print, or send their health data/information to doctors, health insurers, etc.
• Are empowered to be their own advocates
• Better informed through updated medical records

5. Clinicians

Illegibility of medical prescriptions is a major challenge. This leads to medication errors. Thus, clinicians benefit from EHRS in:

• Managing medications
• Improved patient outcomes
• In reducing adverse drug events as a wrong medication is avoided (via integrating with bar code scanning technology)
• Timely reporting of clinical details
• In determining when to repeat a lab test
• In viewing actual radiology results
• Being cost-effective

Government of India’s EHR initiatives

Introducing  EHR Standards

In September 2013, the MoH&FW ( Ministry of Health & Family Welfare) introduced EHR standards in India. These standards were based on the Ministry’s EMR Standards Committee’s recommendations contained in a detailed document. It was for the first time mentioned that a uniform system for EHRs should be created and maintained by varied healthcare providers.

Goals  of EHR Standards

• To promote interoperability
• To support this evolution, and ensuring the standards that are being adopted are maintained on time
• To promote technical. digital innovations
• To encourage all the stakeholders, vendors for active participation
• To reduce implementation costs to the minimum level
• To plan, consider EHR best practices, policies, experiences, frameworks
• To promote adopting standards that are not interdependent but modular

Thus, the Indian government has clearly emphasized the need for EHR standards because, without them, interoperability of medical records can hardly be achieved!

Challenges & Solutions

Challenges –There are varied challenges that occur during varying levels of the development as well as the implementation of EHRs. It needs an adequate level of capital investment, funding,  a well-trained, adequate manpower like doctors, health consultants, IT experts, educators, etc. To keep patients’ records secure is a  big challenge while implementing an EHR. Then, misusing databases, cyber-security threats, ensuring the confidentiality of records while authorizing access to the correct users, etc. are big challenges that EHR implementation is facing in the country.

Solutions – Measures like the following ones can help for a smooth implementation of EHRs in the country:

• Making data password protected
• Cloud Storage, encryption can address issues related to EHR’s security
• Security measures such as Firewalls, antivirus software, etc. for data integrity
• Consulting a reliable EHR development organization
• Designing a user-friendly interface
• Appropriate investment for quality EHR practices ensuring seamless experience amongst stakeholders
• Increasing awareness of protocols regarding the overall security of health information
• Constant,24*7 reliable data monitoring using digital tools & technologies

Bottomline

In India, the development, implementation of EHRs ( Electronic Health Records ) are lying in varied fragmented stages. It is noteworthy that the challenges need to be adequately addressed using relevant digital tools and technologies and only a reliable, leading IT development agency can provide the perfect solutions apt for a healthcare organization. Moreover, the COVID 19 pandemic has already underlined the urgent requirement for a better, more resilient healthcare system across the country. Transforming every stage of healthcare delivery needs an adequate technology deployment making it more accessible, effective, empowering, and satisfying to the core.

Are you a healthcare organization, hospital, clinic, or an entrepreneur in India looking to tap into EHR Applications? Contact us to know more.

Blockchain technology is redefining the healthcare industry on a rapid scale. The industry is embracing Blockchain with open arms in the area that proves vital in a patient’s life – that of blood transfusion. Right from the phase of blood donation involving various entities in the process, Blockchain is serving one purpose – ensuring that a patient gets safe blood!

Blood transfusion

Human blood has no substitute. It cannot be manufactured and is invaluable to one’s life. Blood donation is common but what about blood transfusion? What are the stages involved in a blood bank system? Who all are the entities?

 In a nutshell, let’s understand the concept first. A blood transfusion is a medical procedure that gives healthy blood to you via an intravenous line (IV line) that is inserted in one of your blood vessels. All the safety measures are taken meticulously matching medical parameters. However, even a minutest of carelessness might cost a life. So, blood transfusions, being a common medical procedure, is one of the most challenging ones that may save or take a patient’s life. The traceability and accountability of blood suffer when its travel span makes the donated blood travel thousands of miles from donor to receiver. Chances are high that blood becomes contaminated which can prove fatal to a patient’s life. Thus, Blockchain supports the monitoring as well as traceability parts from a donor to patients by providing a complete transaction system history of each of the blood bottles through their unique tracking identities.

Blockchain Benefits

1. A smart blood chain system

The system is a Blockchain application on a mobile phone that helps to mobilize blood donations from scratch to finish, i.e., involving various entities. Blockchain helps in the monitoring as well as traceability aspects from the original donor to the real-life patients. It records all transactions in the chain–donor registration, collection of the sample, sample testing, its storage, its requisition, and finally the transfusion. Blockchain connects all the entities involved in the cycle of blood supply management – the donor, the test center, the blood bank, and finally the hospital.

2. Blood Supply Chain

Blood donated travels a rather complex blood- supply chain network to reach the exact patients. Blood- units travel even thousands of miles and the purity of blood suffers due to various external forces. It may result in contamination. The main goal or objective of the Blockchain technology is to provide safe (without any contamination) blood to the patients concerned. This is possible by verifying different identities in the chain. Verifying identities ascertain its expiry date, thereby making Blockchain a trusted technology in the area of blood transfusion. Thus, the quality of blood can be assessed by just knowing any node in the chain!

3. Vein to vein, blood  monitoring

 Blockchain does encoding of data in a very secure and transparent way. It adds security and visibility to the entire blood supply management chain. The details of the respective identities, about the blood, are taken at various key points –

• At the time of blood donation by the donor at a collection facility
• When the test is done on the blood sample just collected, and then putting the result on record
• When blood is processed consisting of  red blood cells(RBCs), platelets, plasma
• When these blood constituents are stored in an inventory
• When a vehicle/logistic support transports this blood sample to the hospital
• When the hospital gives blood transfusion to a patient using the very registered product
• And finally, when the leftover blood is disposed of by the hospital right away after its use.

 4. Tracking donor history

The blood bank or the organizer can see the medical history as well as the donation history of a particular donor. That’s possible because of the Blockchain’s unique identity given to that donor that is a-hundred-percent tamper-proof.

5. Blood traceability

Tracing of the entire life cycle of blood donations, every unit of blood, is possible using Blockchain. It works this way – the lifecycle of a blood bag is prepared by deriving physical and digital data from the life cycle of a patients’ data collection, his blood analysis, and collection reports, etc. The bag is given a unique #QR code for identification. Once the data are validated by Smart Contracts, they are entered into Blockchain. Thereafter, the system becomes full-roof. This way, data integrity, and data immutability are highly ensured across the blood value chain.

Blockchain – a lifesaving technology

Thus, we have seen the technological benefits of Blockchain in blood transfusion where Blockchain acts as a life-saver to all those patients whose life do stuck on a thin line of ‘a safe blood transfusion’. The envisaged benefits of Blockchain are that the quality, availability of blood is quite visible, to all the stakeholders, who in turn, too, become the participants in the Blockchain network. No doubt, when we put Blood on the Blockchain, it offers a significant health service, transforms the way blood reaches all those who need it. It’s all about safe blood, timely transfusion!

Do you want to know how Blockchain technology can become a powerhouse for your business? We can help you. Connect to us at www.fusioninformatics.com

Read Also – Top Mobile App Development Companies in India

How Blockchain Technology is Transforming the Travel Industry

The Block chain’s Impact has expanded crossed Banking, healthcare, Automotive, Real estate, and several other areas. Bitcoin was the first action in controlling a decentralized, public record without any direct control or authority, and since before, there have been other compacts related to it that are applied to solve other difficulties, such as those in the global business industry.

There is one important innovation that all various types of trading hold in common, and that is transportation. That is because it is the connection between the user and the retailer. This is what would make the customer and assets bought collectively, and it is also the evidence through which the dealer would present the assets. Transportation could even recognize as the backbone of dealing in Business.

Industry experts recognized that Blockchain revelation has spread over all the Industries, and shifting the travel Industry into the next level. It helps to improve the effectiveness of travel by dynamically decreasing travel expenses and time. Blockchain technology has the capacity to provide solutions for many problems in the sector. The Blockchain technology can control the temperature for goods such as medicines, and medicines while carrying in transport mode. It helps in the payment process by reducing processing time and removes the third party agents cost.

With the help of supply chain can verify the goods in the travel industry. Therefore, with the help of Blockchain technology, we can trace the route of goods and helps to reduce waiting time and processing time through smart contract confirmation. The Blockchain technology helps to remove the paperwork verification process in Industry domain.

Blockchain tech also detects use in building decentralized peer-to-peer ride-sharing utilization. This will provide both vehicle owners as well as travelers to provide the terms of the journey in a safe direction without the association of third-party agents.

These Blockchain apps Development Companies are including e-wallets in the application, delivering it much simpler for users to automatically advance for costs such as parking, highway fees and combustible or power top-ups. Blockchain could also be vital in disturbing business costs, which live over payment services in transportation. It will reduce expenses and implement scalable solutions for tracking orders and verify frequently in-demand same time and one-hour performance services.

How Can Blockchain Benefit the Travel Industry?

In terms of the benefits, Blockchain technology can advance within the travel business, security and confidence rank very deeply. The decentralized energy of the Blockchain indicates that data can never go spam or hack through a wicked cybercrime, securing deals is always identifiable.

Travel agents require sending customer data and luggage to travel companies and Hotel management. The entire travel Industry depends and operates on multiple companies. This process can be done with the simple process by Blockchain technology by accessing and collecting the information of customer easily and stored it on the secure manner of the whole interface.

Of course, financial activities are an important portion of the travel business too, and Blockchain technology has the potential to not only analyze but also secure returns. This is particularly true when trading with across payments. Because of this, Blockchain has the capacity to increase the level of belief among all individuals.

Tracking Luggage and Goods-The luggage’s and goods can be changed on multiple hands while traveling. It can be highly valuable for tracing the movements of goods and luggage’s, particularly at the time of dealings with global tourism Industry. Applying Blockchain, we can track the data of the customer luggage with less time.

Customer Loyalty programs-Finally, several travel companies run client reliability systems, in order to boost return practice. Blockchain can also support with these programs, shortening the practice, letting clients’ admission more easily data about their loyalty opinions, and letting marks to be spread. It can also aid to fight fraud in this zone.

Secure, Traceable Payment-Secure Payments is a most essential process in the travel industry, where Blockchain applied within it. It helps to maintain secure payments while digital money transactions happen between individuals with an easy and secure way. The travel companies accept digital money called Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.

Documentation Services-Documentation services are hugely essential for the travel business, and Blockchain could possibly become standard in the travel industry for collecting and storing data for documentation. In this process, the Blockchain has capable to reduce check-in process time and scan exactly by verifying documents.

Bottom lines-

The Blockchain’s advantages expanded crossed all industries. As can be seen above, it has lot of innovative gains in the transport and global business industry that involves powerful vehicle production tracking and reduces expenses, and it also removes mediators. It is obvious that global business and transport would developed by decentralization. Blockchain could solve transport difficulties and challenges facing by consumers, agents, and transportation firms. We always look forward update our knowledge with latest technology like Blockchain and applied in our clients projects .We have enormous experience in developing apps with implementing Blockchain and set our position top in the list of Blockchain development companies in India.