State-owned SGInnovate has teamed up with Accredify to create a digital health passport leveraging blockchain tech. According to the firms, the blockchain-based data management tool provides more efficient health records management methods.
The development of the health records management tool began earlier this year, with a pilot test conducted in June . Following a successful trial phase, the blockchain powered platform managed to verify coronavirus dismissal records for over 1 million times.
Digital health passport to enhance health data management
SGInnovate is backed by Singapore’s finance ministry and invests in technology startups that deal with the latest technologies such as blockchain, virtual reality, medical tech and artificial intelligence.
As per reports, the new health records management platform allows end-users to preserve their personal health records in a digital wallet that is protected using blockchain technology. Besides, the platform is user-friendly and straightforward to obtain and validate records. The platform enables more comfortable sharing of medical history by converting records into digital form. It also makes the work of healthcare providers easier.
Furthermore, it renders paper documents surplus to requirements due to their shortcomings such as loss, stuffy, and can be forged. Furthermore, the app was created on OpenAttestation, a network created by Singapore’s GovTech, as an open source network for notarizing records using blockchain technology.
According to SGInnovate, the digital health passport boasts a strong cryptographic security shield for every record using distributed ledger technology (DLT). Furthermore, the firm states that blockchain-protected records storage ensures security, privacy and openness.
For additional protection, the end-users obtain the records through their SingPass account and select the health history they intend to distribute and the duration.
Blockchain technology adoption in health
The advent of COVID-19 has brought about a big change in the way of living across the world. Markets have crashed with the virus spreading its economical impact across various major industries in the economy. The technology sector has been inventing innovative ways to help curtail its spread, with the DLT sector developing innovative methods such as Singapore’s digital health passport and other contact tracing gadgets.
