Patient information is being stored and transmitted increasingly online, making it susceptible to cyberattacks, theft, and unauthorized access. As health care becomes digitised, patient information protection has never been more critical. Blockchain securing patient data in India is one of the technologies at the forefront of this fight. However, what does blockchain do to protect patient information?

Let’s see how this progressive technology is transforming the face of health care security in India.

What Is Blockchain and How Does It Work?

Prior to learning about how blockchain securing patient data in India protects patient information, it’s important to know what blockchain is. Fundamentally, blockchain is a distributed and decentralized digital ledger. It logs data on several computers in a manner in which the information is transparent, secure, and can’t be changed. When data is input into a blockchain, it’s added to a “block,” and when a block is complete, it’s added on to the end of the previous block — hence the name blockchain.

Each block is connected with a unique code known as a hash, that makes it literally impossible to alter or tamper with the information. It’s this potential to never alter that makes blockchain securing patient data in India so effective at protecting sensitive information, such as patient medical records.

Why Patient Data Protection Is So Important in India

India, as one of the world’s most populous countries, has a Herculean job of maintaining healthcare privacy. The country’s health care system is often under pressure, with hospitals and clinics finding it difficult to keep patient information private. With increasing health care providers using electronic health records (EHRs), there are greater chances of data breaches and inappropriate use. The biggest issue here is that traditional means of saving data are reliant upon central systems that can be accessed or hacked.

As there are more and more privacy concerns, Indian patients, as with patients everywhere in the world, would want to be assured that their medical records are secure. Blockchain securing patient data in India can help by offering a secure, open way of maintaining and sharing health records.

How Blockchain Secures Patient Data

One of the main ways that blockchain securing patient data in India is revolutionary for healthcare security is that it can provide transparency without invading privacy. How blockchain securing patient data in India is protecting patient information:

Decentralization Means No Single Point of Failure

Traditional storage is stored in a central database. The patient data is stored in one place, making it a single point of attack. Blockchain securing patient data in India is stored on a network of computers (or nodes) that is decentralized. That means there is no single point of attack. Even if a node is hacked, the remainder of the network is secure, making it impervious to cyberthieves and tampering.

Immutability of Data

Once a record is stored in the blockchain, it can never be altered or deleted without leaving a trail. This is particularly in the medical sector, where the integrity of the patient information is most important. With blockchain securing patient data in India, any third-party attempt to modify a patient’s medical history will be traced in real time and therefore only allowing the authorized parties to make the alterations.

Improved Privacy through Encryption

Blockchain uses advanced cryptographic techniques to secure data. All the patient’s medical histories are protected by a secret key that is known only to the rightful authorized individuals. Furthermore, this means that patients get to decide who should see their information and can provide authorization for the doctors, hospitals, or any other health facilities to view the records. This protects the information from unauthorized use and maintains the privacy of the patient as well.

Facilitating Safe Data Exchange

In India, patients visit multiple doctors or medical centers, who may not necessarily exchange information with each other. Blockchain securing patient data in India enables secure exchange of patient history with different healthcare providers without a breach of privacy. With the patient’s permission, their data can be securely exchanged between different points of care so that doctors can make informed decisions without compromising data security.

Real-Life Use of Blockchain in Indian Healthcare

Though blockchain securing patient data in India technology is still in the nascent stages in Indian healthcare, already a few applications use this technology to improve data security. Some healthcare startups and several hospitals are implementing blockchain to ensure that management of patient data is efficient as well as secure.

For example, an Indian health startup used a blockchain platform to store securely and share patient information among multiple hospitals. The system only provides access to authenticated medical practitioners for the health record of the patient, thus increasing the security and efficiency of the healthcare information management system.

Another high-profile instance is from the Indian government. India has been exploring blockchain for application with its National Health Stack initiative, with a view to going digital with healthcare services in the country. The initiative will protect patient data, improve healthcare data management, and enable health data to be more easily accessible to doctors and patients.

The Future of Blockchain in Securing Patient Data in India

With the development of blockchain securing patient data in India technology, its scope to revolutionize healthcare security in India is immense. In the coming years, we can expect more use of blockchain-based systems for patient record management by healthcare providers, leading to greater safeguarding of sensitive data.

Yet, to reach its full potential even today there are certain things that must be worked out. To put this in perspective, their extensive usage is dependent upon huge investment in technology infrastructure and also in rules so that applications of blockchain securing patient data in India would be in accord with healthcare privacy laws.

Besides, while blockchain possesses numerous security advantages, no technology is one hundred percent foolproof. Blockchain securing patient data in India can go a long way towards security, but it must be supplemented with other types of security controls, such as firewalls, antivirus, and secure access control.
Conclusion
Blockchain securing patient data in India is increasingly becoming critical to protect patient data in India’s healthcare industry. By ensuring data storage decentralization, immutability, and increased privacy, blockchain presents an effective solution for healthcare data security problems. As much as it can take time before mass application, the prospect of blockchain reshaping patient data storage, exchange, and security is certain. With advancing technology, blockchain will be more and more depended upon by India and the global world in improving healthcare data security.