Philips Looks to Bring Blockchain Technology to Healthcare
Although details are currently scarce, a quick statement posted on blockchain-servicing engine Tierion’s twitter account confirms that it now counts Phillips as a customer with the latter looking to explore the potential of blockchain technology with its successful healthcare arm.
Philips Healthcare is now among the growing list of companies around the world looking to tap into the applications of block chain technology.
Although the Dutch electronics maker is primarily known for its household products, Philips’ largest business is its health-care division. It competes with the likes of General Electric and Siemens AG in the lucrative hospital scanner market and generated just over $10 billion in overall sales in 2013-2014, down 4 percent from the previous year according to the company’s annual report .
Philips Healthcare’s foray into looking at blockchain-based applications in its industry was publicized by a quick Twitter post by Tierion , a blockchain-based startup that aids businesses with blockchain solutions.
The move can be seen as an intriguing yet unsurprising one by Philips at a time when the healthcare market is experiencing a change on a global scale.
In the face of declining profits and revenue due to cost-cutting measures in its primary markets, Philips has somewhat transitioned into software services along with health care consulting, besides manufacturing scanning systems.
Philips hasn’t released a statement about its intent and plans with blockchain yet. One imagines however, that the potential of instant, interoperable patient records; a platform to decentralize healthcare data that’s also cheaper to maintain and access; security-enhanced records in the blockchain after recent breaches highlight the healthcare industry’s vulnerability when it comes to cybersecurity, among other factors will see block chain as an innovative and soon-to-be-necessary resource for the healthcare industry.
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