4min read
Published on: May 15, 2024
#Blockchain
#Web3
Does anyone remember how our favourite Popeye the Sailor used to gorge on cans and cans of spinach and feel super powerful?
Spinach used to be the source of Popeye’s prowess, making him formidable in any physical challenge.
In many ways, Popeye’s can of spinach signified the importance of health in our childhoods.
Of late, the lazy lifestyle induced by desk jobs and unhealthy diets has made generations unfit.
Following a healthy lifestyle means following a few scientific principles regarding diet, supplements and exercise.
The Web3 revolution has also made radical inroads in the health sector, with a decentralised approach to wellness called HealthFi.
During the Web2 era, the intersection of health and technology heralded very significant benefits such as optimised digitalisation, management and deployment of wellness programmes. Patients were connected to doctors online, a boon for those based in remote areas.
Nonetheless, the control lied with centralised bodies such as government health departments, global healthcare companies etc. Centralised control also carried the inherent risks of system hacks, data leaks, privacy violations etc.
HealthFi involves a radical imagination of the health sector in a Web3 ecosystem where patients themselves have complete control over their medical data and can better manage how their wellness routines are maintained. In turn, patients are rewarded as per their progress in the wellness programmes.
HealthFi not only addresses the shortcomings of healthcare in Web2 such as hacks, data leaks, privacy violations etc., it makes healthcare user-centric, secure and decentralised.
A decentralised approach to healthcare, HealthFi offers key benefits to both doctors and patients in a radically different way from other traditional healthcare systems.
It is high time that we look at the common use cases of HealthFi in how healthcare is realised in a better way.
HealthFi lets you control your health and medical data directly instead of it being stored on a remote server. We must understand its importance because centralised data management is often highly vulnerable to hacks.
A HealthFi database gives each patient a unique set of keys to access health details so that the patient has complete ownership and control of their medical data.
It stores information in a way that is secure and easily available. This way, the communication between the healthcare provider and the patient is managed in a systematic way.
Advanced HealthFi applications also leverage the metaverse technology to offer enhanced medical services in a remote setting. A metaverse is a virtual universe created with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) on a blockchain platform.
In a metaverse, a doctor and a patient can interact virtually in a remote setting. Advanced applications even let a highly skilled doctor diagnose and treat patients virtually (of course, a local doctor needs to attend to the patient).
In addition, medical studies can become more interactive as trainees can enter a metaverse where patients, instruments, labs etc. can be created virtually and experimented with.
The healthcare sector is dealing with the problem of fake or counterfeits medicines for a long time. These fake medicines appear a lot like genuine medicines but can prove to be disastrous or even fatal for patients.
A blockchain entry of each medicine ensures that anybody with access to the blockchain ledger can tell a fake medicine from a genuine one. For now, the exercise isn't in use, but HealthFi applications are considering employing the use case.
The leading HealthFi applications that have grabbed the attention of users as of late are:
Let us have a quick look at the benefits and drawbacks surrounding HealthFi so that we can analyse how far we have come and how far we need to go.
Pros | Cons |
Decentralised approach to healthcare | Regulatory challenges |
Patient-centric system | Difficult to scale |
Remote patient monitoring | Bad internet connectivity in poor, remote regions |
Customised care of patients | Quite inaccessible due to technicalities |
Data management and security | Data not entirely secure |
As we can see, there are several benefits due to the intervention of HealthFi but still, challenges remain.
a. What is HealthFi?
HealthFi is a decentralised approach towards health management where health benefits meet monetary or non-monetary benefits on a blockchain platform in a Web3 ecosystem.
b. How does HealthFi differ from a traditional digital healthcare system?
In a traditional digital healthcare system in a Web2 ecosystem, control of the data lied with centralised systems with little user autonomy.
HealthFi, being a Web3 solution, gives patients complete access and control over their medical data.
c. What are the main use cases of HealthFi?
d. What are the main benefits of HealthFi?
e. What are the challenges that HealthFi faces?
The Way Forward...
HealthFi underlines the transition of a digital healthcare system from Web2 to Web3 where patients, instead of centralised bodies such as governments and hospitals, have complete control over medical data.
Its key purpose is creating a decentralised healthcare system where patients and doctors can interact in a virtual setting, enabled by technologies such as blockchain, AI, VR, AR etc.
Imagine a universe where a patient is sitting in a remote corner of Nepal and a doctor from an Australian clinic can treat her in a virtual setting. Though we haven't quite reached there yet but diagnosis and treatment are still possible, given a local doctor is present with the patient.
Personalised healthcare lies at the centre of HealthFi where wellness is organised in a decentralised manner. Its goal is to bridge the gap between healthcare facilities, medical fraternity and patients where the tyranny of distance shouldn't matter.
Data privacy and virtual interaction, enabled with a cryptocurrency-based economy, make up the primary model of HealthFi.
Challenges of scalability and regulation remain but healthcare is a public function which most governments and organisations cannot overlook. It will take time, but we expect HealthFi to develop and expand in the next few years.
This article is for informational purposes only and not intended as investment or financial advice. It contains opinions and speculations that are subject to change without notice.
The author and publisher disclaim any liability for decisions made based on the content of this article. Readers are advised to conduct their own research and consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
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