U.S. Congressional Resolution: Blockchain is used to manage national veterans’ medical affairs and solve the problem of medical record tampering

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives have submitted a proposal to the Veterans Affairs Administration that would use blockchain to track medical appointments.

The congressman's House Resolution 859 was successfully submitted on Monday. It is reported that the resolution provides a solution for the U.S. Veterans Affairs (VA) Administration, which provides government services to U.S. veterans.

The bill is intended to address delays in the allocation of medical services by the VA. As early as 2014, the Obama administration severely criticized some VA employees for secretly manipulating data and modifying records to conceal delays.

Now, U.S. lawmakers see distributed ledger technology as a potential solution.

The proposal was authored by David Schweikert, a congressman from Arizona. In addition to firing employees who cross the line, he also listed a number of reforms in the proposal, including issuing an amendment and protecting data privacy.

Within one year of the enactment of the bill, the VA director must ensure that veterans who have made appointments for medical services can use a website, mobile app, or other similar electronic method to connect to a distributed ledger to view their appointment records, ensuring that VA internal members cannot make arbitrary changes.

Schweikert is a big supporter of blockchain technology in Congress. Earlier this year, he spoke at the CDC’s blockchain conference in Washington, D.C. At the time, he said the technology was “going to be transformative.”

Schweikert also suggested that VA hire one or more suitable companies to develop relevant systems.

It is unclear whether the resolution will take effect, as the US election is not far away. The proposal also does not clearly explain how the relevant system will be established and how blockchain can solve the problem of veterans' affairs management.

Still, the resolution’s submission comes at an opportune time, given that Congress just passed a non-binding resolution calling on the government to embrace blockchain and financial technology.