I. Blockchain—A New Model for Health Information Exchanges

A blockchain powered health information exchange could unlock the true value of interoperability. Blockchain-based systems have the potential to reduce or eliminate the friction and costs of current intermediaries. Particularly compelling use cases for blockchain technology include the Precision Medicine Initiative, Patient Care and Outcomes Research (PCOR), and the Nationwide Interoperability Roadmap. For these and other high-potential areas, determining the viability of the business case for blockchain is paramount to realize the benefits of improved data integrity, decentralization and disintermediation of trust, and reduced transaction costs. The exchange of Personal Health Records and Health Information Exchange (HIE) data via the Integrating the Health care Enterprise (IHE) protocol is an important part of addressing the challenges of system interoperability and accessibility of medical records. The strategy outlined to date provides the technical requirements and specific incentives for health systems to meet the Meaningful Use interoperability standards necessary to support the envisioned National Health Information Network, buttressed by a network of HIEs operating on a broad scale. That unrealized scale, driven in large part by insufficient incentives outside of compliance, threatens the viability of HIEs and merits exploration of new models. It may be possible that new value based models embedded in MACRA will be sufficient to make the market model work, but HIEs have been seeking alternative business models. Meanwhile the health systems that see true benefits from establishing a clinically integrated network in order to engage in risk-based contracts focus on private exchanges and are looking for low cost solutions that enable secure integration and support the assembly of virtual health systems that move beyond organizational boundaries. While blockchain technology is not a panacea for data standardization or system integration challenges, it does offer a promising new distributed framework to amplify and support integration of health care information across a range of uses and stakeholders. It addresses several existing pain points and enables a system that is more efficient, disintermediated, and secure.