 In the world of medicine, patient and prescription data must be classified to avoid a breach in privacy and then distributed to clinics and hospitals. How is one able to organize all this data safely and securely? A modern solution has arisen in the form of blockchain technology. In this video, we will explore the mechanisms and advantages of implementing blockchain technology in medicine. So what exactly is a blockchain? A blockchain is a collaborative ledger of transaction records that cannot be tampered with. Its name comes from the records being grouped in blocks, each which have a unique hash identifier. These are then connected and each has the hash of the previous block. This structure allows modification of a block to be very difficult to hide since all other blocks will be modified as a result. So it makes a great place to store information you don't want to change. In order to add a new block to the blockchain, it is sent to every participant or node in the network to get validated. The nodes receive a reward for their work, usually in the form of cryptocurrency. The block is then added and an updated form of the chain is sent throughout the network. So how exactly can blockchain be used in healthcare? Well, blockchain can be a vital asset to organize supply chains with authentic origins and prevent counterfeit prescriptions and devices from harming the unaware public. The entire prescription process from manufacturing to obtain it by the patient is made transparent using blockchain and at each step verification of the current block can be done to preserve the security of the medications information. For example, the pharmacy can review and validate if a medicines manufacturing warehouse and shipping method was up to par, and if so, authorize it for patient use. Another area in healthcare that blockchain technology could enhance is contact tracing. Contact tracing is a key strategy used by health officials during pandemics to help slow the spread of disease. Upon diagnosis, contact tracers will direct people to services that can help them deal with the disease and isolate properly in order to prevent further spreading. In addition, anyone that has been in close contact with the person diagnosed will be notified about possible exposure and will be appropriately directed. Keep in mind that the name of the diagnosed individual is kept confidential. Blockchain can be utilized in contact tracing by allowing the sharing of disease diagnosis between doctors and patients or doctors and other doctors. Features such as decentralization, delayed timestamps and delayed location data help to increase patient privacy while continuing to efficiently notify individuals of disease diagnosis. But, perhaps the most important area that blockchain could revolutionize is electronic medical records. Instead of hard copy records that can potentially get into the wrong hands or the transfer of records via email or mail, all medical records are now online and encrypted. If the records need to be transferred to a different area of the hospital, switch between doctors or transfer to another hospital, setting up a unified electronic medical record blockchain would allow patients to securely own their own data and have the validity of that data be verified by healthcare providers through query of the blockchain on whether the patient's locally stored encrypted information correctly corresponds to the encrypted information on the blockchain. There is very little risk in the information being intercepted by someone else due to the blockchain's encryption and privacy features. The security of the system is further enhanced by decentralized identifiers and self-sovereign identity. Decentralized identifiers allow for a verifiable but decentralized digital identity, while self-sovereign identity gives people control over their digital identities. All in all, blockchain technology can work to organize and protect confidential patient information by allowing the patient to control their own data in a self-sovereign identity ecosystem. This system is independent and does not rely on a single third party for validation. Rather, the data can be distributed into decentralized chains where the data is in multiple locations, preventing tampering and manipulation. With this video, we at the Scienceverse and our collaborators over at Simple as Med hope that you understand a little bit more about the various implementations of blockchain in healthcare. We hope you take the time to watch the complementary video over on Simple as Med's channel and also be sure to hit that subscribe button. As always, stay tuned for more science videos.