It is indeed incredible that most of the challenges that plague the health sector today are largely the same ones that deprived us of sound health and blissful co-existence ten years ago. Even worse, these are very trivial problems. Alas, this is where we have found ourselves.

Sir Charles Babbage gifted this world a most remarkable thing-the computer: a means to arrest the shortcomings of our unreliable, traditional data compilation and filing systems yet it would seem that today, over a jubilee since the first set of computers arrived, the health sector is still not up to par with the financial sector and some other sectors that have totally embraced digitalization.
Developed countries like China and the USA are not left out either. Till today, many clinics still stack up medical records in heaps of files, probably kept under lock and key in a separate room and if you are lucky, they may have it backed up electronically on the clinic’s mainframe. The only issue with all these is that, such centralized filing systems are prone to hacks or server failure or collateral loss as a result of a fire outbreak for instance. And almost immediately, the patient’s records are gone, together with confidentiality of medical information.

Another profound problem is inefficiency of medical records, and this is due to lack of effective, cutting-edge technology and infrastructures that facilitate exchange of this information amongst healthcare providers (health practitioners and pharmacists).
It is bad enough that a patient has to go through the hassles of doing a PCV test, FBC test, Blood group test, widal test and malaria test in order to pinpoint what ailment to diagnose him or her with, only to find out that the clinic in question is not adequately equipped to carry out all the tests.
On arriving at clinic B, the same patient is now required to conduct the tests afresh. Indeed it can be a hellish experience for the patient in terms of both costs to incure and having to subject one’s self to acupuncture again.
This challenge is what gave birth to the initiative of MediBloc

What is MediBloc ?

MediBloc is an ethereum-built healthcare-based platform. MediBloc is targeted at handing individuals the sole key to their current health information and all medical records. Since it is electronic and a DApp, it is very portable, hence, patients would not have to resort to the traditional way of going to the clinic to request for their medical record.
MediBloc is going to collate all of a patient’s medical information scattered abroad and have it domiciled on the platform and it will be updated on a regular basis. With the push of a button, patients will now be able to enjoy remote access to and, provide all their medical information, including previous diagnosis and results of tests, as at when due. It is simply cost-effective and stress-free. Ultimately, this promises a better user experience.

Brain behind MediBloc

The MediBloc initiative was founded by two problem solvers- Dr. Allen Wookyun Kho and Dr. Eunsol Lee, of which both authorities are well-versed in the field of medicine and engineering.

MediBloc was created in an attempt to:
improve healthcare access and experience by redistributing value of personal healthcare data, accelerating the world’s shift to private information decentralization
Source: MediBloc’s Whitepaper, page 8

MediBloc’s components

The MediBloc platform is comprised of three main aspects- the core, the mediblock service and the mediblock application.

The Core

The core is separate from the singular MediBloc ethereum-built platform but it is the central matter upon which the other components exist. It is where all the gathered medical information would be housed. Although typically, the blockchain should be the foundation, but due to the limitations in terms of storage capacity of blockchain, the latter was employed. It is specifically built on QTum.
However, MediBloc hopes to develop its own blockchain network such that it will not have to rely on already existing ones which may have one or two unpleasant shortcomings.

The MediBloc Service

It is based on both the core and application components. By merging the former and latter, MediBloc affords users with total access to check med balance, medical history and even prove claim insurance effortlessly.

MediBloc application

MediBloc will be open to all. By disseminating APIs and SDKs, more developers can now integrate apps on the platform that would prove highly-beneficial for all parties. Health insurance claims will be effected at the push of a button.
MediBloc is currently brokering partnerships with major corporations. This will go a long way to facilitate the adoption and consequent integration of MediBloc in standard healthcare provision and delivery systems.

MediBloc vs. Traditional medical data storage systems

Far from traditional medical data storage system which is prone to irrecoverable loss, MediBloc is reliable and highly-secured.

Source:

It will afford a reliable data backup and recovery system. And being a decentralized platform, the risk of hacks and mechanical loss are outrightly eliminated.
The patient reserves the right to share his or her medical information as he deems fit. This way, the control of information and privacy is restored. MediBloc also caters for an emergency scenario. In such an instance, the kins and family members of the registered user will be granted partial access to the record.

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Contribution to critical researches

Generally, research institutions and bodies, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies constantly require vagaries of medical data to guide them in their studies. With current systems, access to this sort of data is more or less free without the consent of most patients.

MediBloc would restore the control to users to decide on who can access their personal medical records. In essence, these research bodies must consult with the patient first, and then there will be required to pay a token, Med token.

This is a win-win for both parties because patients get to control the leasing of data and earn from it while the research organisations can be certain of the reliability of the medical data which would prove for critical research studies.

Here is an overview of MediBloc

To learn more simply check these out:
MediBloc Website
MediBloc Whitepaper
MediBloc Team

You can also participate in this contest. Follow this link:
https://steemit.com/crypto/@originalworks/640-steem-sponsored-writing-contest-medibloc

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