On 7 September 2020, it was announced that Florida’s largest pediatric health care provider, Angel Kids Pediatrics, implemented healthtech platform Team.Care Network. Solve. Care’s blockchain-based workforce management solution helps to manage COVID-19 testing status.
Dr. Ashraf Affan, Medical Director of Angel Kids Pediatrics, points out that while children are less likely to be infected with the virus, “they are twice as likely to transmit the virus compared to adults.” He also notes that “one of the best ways to help contain this pandemic is through the timely sharing of knowledge and focusing on prevention.”
Team.Care Network provides users with real-time updates of potential exposure. The Network also provides Angel Kids with their employees’ current health status, including COVID-19 test results. Angel Kids hopes that by tracking employee health, the Network can help mitigate an outbreak’s effects while ensuring the security of their healthcare data. It is with this information that Angel Kids can make informed decisions to protect their workforce and patients.
All collected data has end-to-end encryption and is stored in a wallet owned by the employee. Sharing is only permitted with the employee’s explicit consent. Blockchain technology is used to ensure the data’s integrity is maintained, is auditable, and immutable. Other benefits of using blockchain in health care apps include heightened data security, privacy protection, transparency and efficiency.
COVID-19 cases in the U.S. continue to rise, with The New York Times reporting over 6.3 million confirmed cases as of 8 September 2020. California, Florida, and Texas have been hit the hardest, with Florida alone confirming a total of 639,166 cases as of yesterday. As front-line workers directly care for COVID-19 patients, they are in most danger of transmitting and becoming infected themselves with the virus. Companies like Angel Kids realize the significant risk to their employees: so far, over 1,000 healthcare workers have died as a result of the pandemic in the U.S. Despite the risks, healthcare workers are a vital component of controlling the pandemic.
Blockchain is increasingly being used on a global scale to track and trace the virus in an effort to control it. In Japan, IT firm NTT Data and health care provider LSI Medience Corporation recently announced the results of their electronic certificate issuing service trial. The service allows for employers to securely receive employee test results, using blockchain to ensure the certificate’s validity. In Switzerland, blockchain health certificate app Health n Go also released their trail results, with seemingly encouraging results. Over the past few months, multiple other blockchain-based COVID-19 solutions for this have been introduced.
