With unobstructed access to their own medical records, patients would no longer be at the mercy of their health systems' proprietary EMRs. By sharing their cryptographic keys, they can provide access to their all-important medical information whenever they wish. They control their own data.

Blockchain also provides an avenue to incentivize patients to pursue healthier habits. Digital incentive tokens can easily be distributed by workplaces, insurance companies, biotechs, etc. By adopting specific behaviors – diet, exercise, medication compliance, clinical trial participation – patients receive tokens that can mitigate their health care and other costs. For example, insurance companies can take in tokens in exchange for reduced rates. Patients pay less and companies have healthier clients.


Incentives work, but social support is even better. Patients will be able to share their data through secure social networks, which also add a competitive, gamification element. Who is winning the effort to lose pounds, increase activity or improve cholesterol or blood glucose?

Numerous studies have shown incentives work. Even more importantly, patients have control over their own records and their own health. They do not have to rely on an increasingly paternalistic medical system to make choices for them. They become more educated consumers who have increased freedom to choose who will provide the services they need. And as they adopt healthier habits, they will need those services less often.


About the Author: Dr. Samir Damani is CEO and co-founder of MintHealth, a global, decentralized health platform that aligns health care stakeholders around the shared goal of patient empowerment and improved clinical outcomes, at lower costs. Prior to MintHealth, Damani was the founding CEO of MD Revolution (MDR) which has become the gold standard technology-enabled service platform for Medicare's chronic care management (CCM) program. In addition, Dr. Damani is on clinical faculty at the Department of Family & Preventive Medicine for the UC San Diego Medical School, and is a board-certified practicing cardiologist at Scripps Clinic.

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