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TrustedHealth: Using blockchain to empower patients

Last updated: 14:06 09 Apr 2018 BST, First published: 13:06 09 Apr 2018 BST

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Brian cancer is one of the indication covered by TrustedDoctor

For anyone with the misfortune to get cancer, how quickly they get to the right doctor and receive a successful treatment is critical to their chances of survival.

TrustedHealth runs a service designed to do just that by putting patients in contact with some of the world’s leading cancer specialists through a virtual platform.

WATCH: TrustedHealth launches ICO to give patients access to the 'best medical care'

Set up in 2017 by Greg Jarzabek after his mother died from the disease, the idea is that, through video consultation, patients get access to the best possible diagnosis and advice on treatment.

Ninety doctors so far have signed up for the TrustedDoctor platform, while 250 patients have received consultations.

But patient access is only one part of the plan.

TrustedHealth wants to establish a whole ecosystem of medical sources for patients to access but also for other doctors to utilise in their own cases, for research or to identify current best practice.

One of the problems with clinical trials currently, says Lukasz Rzeczkowski TrustedDoctor's co-founder, is that they are localised, which can affect outcomes, but TrustedHealth wants a global and disease-specific dataset.

Secure data

Details of a medical history are stored on secure profile called Patientlink, which for the patient is a quick and efficient way to transfer all details of a condition to a specialist ahead of a video consultation.

Patients can also earn TrustedHealth tokens for agreeing to share their data, which helps to build up the amount of information on the database.

Discussions between a doctor and patient, however, are confidential and encrypted.

Most patients so far have been suffering from brain and lung cancer, but Rzeczkowski wants to broaden the reach to a further 20 types of the disease

He also wants to expand the service to other illnesses.

Lyme Disease, for example, is something where there is almost a silence over treatment, he says.

ICO issue

A cryptocurrency issue (ICO) of TrustedHealth tokens is underway to raise up to 7,500 Ethereum (equivalent to about around US$3mln) to fund the expansion.

Some 150mln, out of 300mln mined tokens, are being made available and to take part investors must submit Ethereum coins from a digital wallet.

The tokens, which will eventually be listed on a cryptocurrency exchange, also give additional access rights to the doctors and subsidised consultation payments.

Dependent on how much a person invests, insurance and premiums services are available through a Health Pass that is stored in the Ethereum wallet.

Ethereum forms the backbone of the service as TrustedHealth believes it the most relevant blockchain platform for smart contracts.

The currency allows direct patient-to-doctor payment execution; lower fees; instant settlement; increased security and payment automation.

Blockchain best

Blockchain, meanwhile, is widely seen an ideal way to store patient records and predicted to spark widespread changes in the way medical treatment is conducted in future.

 “It’s faster, cheaper and arguably more secure and easily interoperable,” says Rzeczkowski, who adds that once the ICO is out of the way, development will step up a pace.

That will involve attracting more doctors as well as patients to the platform.

Rzeczkowski believes that with doctors increasingly specialising in very narrow areas of treatment, having access to the best is becoming more and more important.

TrustedHealth earns revenues from a commission on the video consultations.

Up to a quarter of doctors are prepared to consult for free, however, especially for charity referrals or the disadvantaged.

Where doctors are well-known specialists in a field, this helps attract others to the network so they get access to the latest thinking on a particular topic.

Many also welcome the opportunity for patients to get a second opinion.

Empowerment organisation

Doctors for the platform are nominated by peer review and are scrutinised by the company’s medical council.

It is not just individual patients, though who are taking things more into their own hands.

Empowerment through organisations such as survivor groups and charities is also becoming important.

“Patient support is growing and we are happy to work with trusted and creditable counterparties,” says Rzeczkowski.

“A lot of people come to us when their system fails them. We give them time and effort.”

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