Application of Blockchain Technology to Electronic Health Records will benefit in collection and management of all the patients information within UAE in the most secure and reliable way

Dubai, UAE, 4 January 2017:  du partners with NMC Healthcare in UAE to implement Electronic Health Records with the use of Blockchain Technology. This innovative pilot from du demonstrated the application of this technology in the health sector that will benefit the residents and the city itself. This is an initiative from du, being a member of The Global Blockchain Council (GBC) which was established earlier in the year by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and the Ruler of Dubai, to test and accelerate Blockchain technology in the country. This Proof of Concept (POC) will promote innovation and the use of next generation technologies to enhance UAE’s position as a leading center for innovation and knowledge economy. The final delivery for the POC is expected early next year.

Electronic Health Records (EHR) with Blockchain Technology will provide a number of benefits. Blockchain will bring data integrity, security and trust to the flow of patient’s information between the health providers and the patient.  It will enable NMC to be 100% certain of the accuracy of all the retrieved records. Hence, allowing the patients to consult any doctor in NMC making their interaction seamless. The digitization of medical records will assist in management of crisis, disease & outbreaks through Big Data Analytical Tools that can be created.

This initiative will help NMC increase efficiencies by securely recording, storing and retrieving the medical health records. This cost-effective workflow will also allow the hospital to improve patient charting and scheduling. 

Carlos Domingo, Chief New Business & Innovation Officer, du, said: “du is at the forefront of leading innovation and digital transformation in UAE and implementation of Electronic Health Records with Blockchain Technology for NMC Healthcare is one of our contribution towards achieving Dubai’s vision of having all government documents in blockchain by 2020.   Today, majority of health records are on paper such as blood test reports, x-rays, etc. Most hospitals don’t have shared access of patients’ records which is  inconvenient to the patient and time consuming at the end for the doctor or the care giver. By digitizing all health records, and putting them in blockchain technology, data can be shared and distributed across all hospitals. We are looking at fully digitizing the health system with blockchain technology to assure data integrity with zero error and guarantee end to end accountability of the patients’ records.” 

Dr. B.R. Shetty, Founder and CEO of NMC Healthcare, said: “We are excited to join hands with du for this pilot project to implement Electronic Health Records with Blockchain Technology in all our hospitals spread across UAE. NMC Healthcare has been the pioneer in providing latest break-through technology in the health industry and we are keen on digitizing the patients’ medical records in the most secure and reliable manner. We believe the results of this initiative shall improve our patients’ data management processes, reduce administrative costs and also help us in serving our patients in a further effective manner with accurate information for better diagnosis and treatment.”

Blockchain technology will be provided through du’s partnership with Guardtime, one of the first companies to implement Blockchain Technology in Estonia.
Mike Gault, CEO of Guardtime said “We are thrilled to be partnering with du to bring blockchain technology to UAE. Guardtime will leverage on its expertise as its blockchain technology has been in production for many years in Estonia delivering security and efficiency to health-care services. We would like to thank du and NMC Healthcare for this opportunity.”