Dentix Using the Blockchain to Improve Dental Health Records Manage...

Patients have various dental needs, may be on multiple medications, and may have a compromised health status being treated by several physicians at once (for example older patients, patients with co-morbid conditions such as diabetes, obesity, and hypertension). Due to changing lifestyle and aging demographics the health status and medication profiles of patients are increasingly complicated and dentists need to be up-to-date on their patient's health status. Determining the dental therapies that are appropriate for complex cases requires well-curated and accurate health records.

Electronic health record (EHR) are digital versions of a patient’s paper chart. EHRs are real-time, patient-centered records that make information available instantly and securely to authorized users. While an EHR does contain the medical and treatment histories of patients, an EHR system is built to go beyond standard clinical data collected in a provider’s office and can be inclusive of a broader view of a patient’s care. EHRs can:

Contain a patient’s medical history, diagnoses, medications, treatment plans, immunization dates, allergies, radiology images, and laboratory and test results.
Allow access to evidence-based tools that providers can use to make decisions about a patient’s care.
Automate and help to streamline provider workflow.
EHR health information can be created and managed by authorized providers in a digital format capable of being shared with other providers across more than one health care organization.
EHRs are built to share information with other health care providers and organizations – such as laboratories, specialists, medical imaging facilities, pharmacies, emergency facilities, and school, workplace clinics and dentists; they contain information from all clinicians involved in a patient’s care.

Using the Blockchain to Improve EHRs

A blockchain with smart contract technology, the combination is well known for being resistance to hacking. Simply explained, it means your confidential information will be stored in tamper-proof place where records cannot be changed or removed and the only people who can see these records are people that you may do so. This also means that patients get easy access to their own records from anywhere at any time!

With multiple sources requesting access and using patient health records, patients should have control over their health records, and they should also benefit from the potential value that they possess. The blockchain offers a centralized platform for EHR security but should also offer an anonymous place for patients to submit reviews on procedures that were performed and signed for by the practitioner.

Dentix software solution works by uses the latest technology to validate records using Smart Contract technology, then permanently records them to a distributed database. Anybody including patients can see these records because the blockchain is publicly supported, but each record is secured using advanced cryptography so that the identities stay anonymous. Altogether the platform creates a trustless interoperable database while ensuring the safety of private records.

Its decentralized properties offer a reliable place to confirm that all parties involved agree on a record and that it is a secure place for storing that record so that it cannot be altered or deleted.

Summary

The creation, holding, and transfer of complete and accurate dental records are both needed and expected as patients may transfer between practices during moves (eg job relocation but also to new health care providers). There is demand for an efficient method of sharing relevant information between healthcare providers, which current EHR systems do not handle well. The Dentix EHR will solve this problem and other problems for dentists and their patients. The global platform enables the secure transfer of patient charts to any clinic on the Dentix network. As a revenue stream the company may want to establish a small fee for access mechanism for transferring out patient records to dental offices that have not adopted the Dentix platform. The ICO has great potential for future dental records management as it solves many of the current problems and inefficiencies associated with current EHR management.