Nandu self-media exposed that the hospital tampered with medical records? Don’t worry, let the blockchain prevent tampering

According to a report by Nandu We Media on January 4, since January 3, an online article titled "Peking University Hospital, answer one question: why did you tamper with the medical records!" has been circulating in the circle of friends. The author of the article accused Peking University Shenzhen Hospital of tampering with the patient's medical records after performing surgery on her father-in-law, including the operation time, postoperative diagnosis, medication dosage, patient medical history, etc. The patient's family further suspected that the death of their family member might be related to the above operation of the hospital. On January 4, Peking University Hospital issued a message stating that the relevant medical records had been sealed and the doctor in question would be suspended from surgery from that day on to cooperate with the investigation.

The patient's family (the author of the online article) introduced in the article that more than two months ago, his father-in-law, Mr. Zhong, had a minimally invasive gallstone surgery at Peking University Hospital. According to the hospital's description, the patient developed sepsis and multiple organ failure after the operation. In the end, the old man died of septic shock on December 30. According to the patient's family, the patient's first operation was on October 19, but the record date was November 19; and the "intraoperative (postoperative) diagnosis" of the first and second operations were exactly the same. The patient's family suspected that the diagnosis of the first operation was "swallowed" and asked about it. The patient's family also pointed out that the diagnosis description after the operation was completely opposite to the operation process. In addition, the patient's family said that the dosage of the medication was also tampered with. The patient's family also stated that there were various diseases in the medical records that did not exist in the patient himself, such as coronary heart disease. At present, according to Nandu self-media, the patient's family has been going through the legal process to deal with the matter, and Shenzhen Peking University Hospital has also officially issued a document to respond to the patient's family's questions.

This incident has caused heated discussions among netizens. Some people condemned the hospital, while others commented on whether the date on the case was written incorrectly. Medical accidents caused by incorrect information and information omissions in paper medical records, prescriptions, and examination reports have always occurred. How to prevent such incidents from happening? Storing patients' medical records on the blockchain is the most effective, safest and low-cost solution.

Blockchain is essentially a decentralized distributed ledger database. It is a string of data blocks generated using cryptography, and each data block contains information about multiple valid transactions. Whenever an encrypted transaction occurs, the blockchain uses a consensus algorithm to generate a new block, creating a new block to record the latest transaction. This process is irreversible, so the transactions recorded in the block cannot be tampered with. New blocks are added to the end of the original blockchain linearly in chronological order, and the distributed ledger will continue to grow and extend.

In this way, the blockchain records all transaction information between the Internet and updates it at any time, so that every user in this database can read, write or record information from it through legal means. Its special mechanism of generating new blocks that is irreversible effectively prevents previous data from being tampered with. All medical records can be written to the blockchain. The data encryption and signature mechanism in the blockchain can ensure the security of the data, and the consensus algorithm ensures that the data cannot be tampered with and the consistency of the data between each node. Therefore, the core features of medical blockchain technology include data integrity and immutability, trustworthiness and security. It has always been considered the next major disruptor in the medical industry, which can effectively prevent other medical records such as cases from being tampered with.

Currently, other blockchain-based medical networks are also beginning to take shape around the world. Today, according to local media ITP, UAE communications giant du has established a partnership with large private medical service provider NMC Healthcare, which will become the first project in the UAE to introduce blockchain into patient information management. By digitizing all medical records and putting them on the blockchain, this data information can be shared and distributed to all hospitals. Using blockchain technology to fully digitize the medical system can ensure data integrity and zero errors as well as end-to-end accountability for patient medical records.

In the past 2016, blockchain technology has been widely known, and many practical applications have appeared. At the same time, it has been given high hopes. 2017 is also considered a key year for the development of blockchain. Many industry experts believe that this technology may begin to be deployed in reality this year. Blockchain technology is considered to have great development potential in cross-border payments, securities, Internet of Things, medical care, energy, supply chain, law, insurance and other industries. Here, we look forward to the technological research and development and application of blockchain in the domestic and even global medical fields to increase the pace of implementation, benefit people's livelihood as soon as possible, and use the most significant anti-tampering characteristics of blockchain to avoid the occurrence of the above medical accidents.

Silverchain Technology is committed to the research and development of blockchain underlying technology platforms, providing blockchain solutions, blockchain consulting and training services to financial institutions and enterprises. In May 2016, Silverchain Technology received millions of angel investment. On May 31, it became a member of the presidium of the Golden Chain Alliance. In September 2016, it released the commercial bank collateral blockchain. In November, it received funding from the Nanjing Municipal Government and became the first blockchain startup company in China to receive government funding. The Cloud Chain-Blockchain application development platform developed by Silverchain Technology will release its first version in January 2017. Stay tuned!