Web 3.0 Could Revolutionize The Future Of Healthcare – Here's How
Detroit, Michigan
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May 28, 2024 09:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time
By Kyle Anthony
The healthcare industry is at a pivotal moment, even as it faces numerous challenges, such as data fragmentation, security concerns and inefficiencies in patient care. The advent of Web 3.0 offers a promising solution to these issues by introducing a more connected, intelligent and secure framework for managing healthcare data and services. Companies like Elevate Health and Wellness are set on demonstrating the many advantages Web 3.0 brings through their efforts.
Understanding Web 3.0
To understand how Web 3.0 can change the healthcare industry, it’s important to appreciate what it offers. Web 3.0, often called the "decentralized web," aims to create a more intelligent, connected and open Internet, addressing many limitations and challenges in the current Web 2.0 era – which is dominated by centralized platforms and services. Web 3.0 will utilize blockchain technology and decentralized networks, where data and applications are distributed across a network of nodes rather than controlled by a single entity. The distributed nature of Web 3.0 provides individuals with greater ownership of their information and the ability to utilize that information in a more secure and versatile manner.
Given Web 3.0's capabilities, it has significant potential in multiple areas. Below are three ways in which it can reshape the healthcare industry.
Data Management And Patient Care
Web 3.0 brings transformative potential to the healthcare sector, particularly in managing healthcare data records. The current Web 2.0 infrastructure struggles with security vulnerabilities and inefficient data management. By leveraging decentralized technologies such as blockchain, enhanced semantic capabilities and advanced privacy measures, Web 3.0 aims to address the current challenges of data fragmentation, security, and accessibility.
From a patient standpoint, Web 3.0 allows patients to control and own their healthcare information. Blockchain-based personal health records (PHRs) allow patients to manage access permissions, ensuring their data is shared only with authorized parties. This can improve the healthcare experience, as healthcare practitioners will have a holistic view of a patient's health, leading to better diagnosis and treatment plans.
Community-Based Healthcare Support
The number of individuals suffering from mental health issues has risen in recent years, and how the current healthcare industrial complex supports them may, at times, be inadequate. Supported by both the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Centers for Disease Control, peer support has emerged as an evidence-based approach to promote recovery from both mental and substance use disorders. Individuals with lived experience are critical to this model, providing peer support based on their expertise in managing their own conditions while also receiving community support in return.
By implementing Web 3.0 in peer support services, individuals can form a community around specific mental health issues and receive ongoing support from specialized medical personnel and individuals who have had similar experiences and found ways to cope successfully – in essence, using technology to treat individuals empathetically and holistically as they navigate their mental health journey.
Implementing blockchain technology to increase mental health services for those who need it instantly at both outpatient and inpatient levels is part of Elevate Health and Wellness’ vision. It is a dual-licensed outpatient clinic specializing in mental health and addiction treatment for adolescents and adults.
Tentatively launching in 2026, the company says its token will be used to increase awareness, build a stronger supportive community and connect individuals with mental health disorders and addiction with therapists and psychiatrists instantly. Blockchain-based software will also allow for the creation of smart insurance contracts (i.e., contracts that are self-executing, in which the terms of the agreement are directly written into lines of code) for mental health and wellness to provide an alternative to conventional insurance.
In speaking with Dr. Mohamed Elsamra, the medical director at Elevate Health, about the clinic’s blockchain initiative, he stated, “With Web3 technology, we can provide cheaper and faster access to mental health care, and this will reduce insurance premiums people pay for coverage. We should provide a cheaper alternative than the current conventional insurance system.”
Combating Drug Counterfeiting
Counterfeit drugs pose serious threats to patient safety and undermine trust in healthcare systems. This was especially highlighted in the wake of counterfeits of the weight-loss drug GLP-1 found their way into markets around the world, leading the FDA to issue a warning about the health risks involved.
Traditional methods of tracking and verifying pharmaceuticals are often inadequate due to their susceptibility to tampering and fraud. Web 3.0 introduces a decentralized, secure and intelligent Internet infrastructure that has the potential to transform drug supply chain management. By utilizing blockchain technology, stakeholders can track a drug’s journey from production to the point of sale. This end-to-end traceability helps in verifying the authenticity of pharmaceuticals and identifying counterfeit products quickly. Furthermore, smart contracts will ensure compliance and reduce the risk of fraud in the supply chain.
Web 3.0 holds significant promise in the fight against drug counterfeiting by enhancing the transparency, security, and efficiency of pharmaceutical supply chains. Through blockchain technology, stakeholders can achieve unprecedented levels of traceability and authenticity verification in the production and distribution of drugs to the general public.
The Digital Future Of Healthcare
A study published in BMJ Journals predicted,”It is possible that very soon, we will see a sprawling mental health space in Web 3.0 that may revolutionize the mental health field.” Web 3.0 holds the potential to transform healthcare by addressing many of the current system's inefficiencies and challenges. Through decentralized networks, intelligent data interpretation, and enhanced privacy and security measures, Web 3.0 can create a more patient-centric and efficient healthcare system for the benefit of all – and companies like Elevate Health and Wellness are fully prepared to help stakeholders make the most of it.
Featured photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash.
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