Blockchain: What is it Good For? Absolutely Not Just Cryptocurrency

Description

Many equate blockchain to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. While an interesting application, there is untapped potential for equally impactful applications like making healthcare better and more affordable using data. There is ample evidence that harnessing healthcare data improves outcomes and lowers the cost of care. There is near-universal agreement that making healthcare data more integrated and interoperable improves outcomes and lowers cost; And, consequently, could make healthcare more accessible, more affordable, and more inclusive to a larger population. A major challenge is that much of healthcare data is disconnected and in data silos, even for just one patient. There’s a system for electronic medical records (EMR), another for drugs, another for labs, and so on. Now, every system and device is online; yet healthcare data becomes ever more fragmented and disconnected with every new system and device. This tech talk will focus on how technologies, like blockchain, can unlock the value of healthcare data while enabling people to own and control their own data. The vision for making data easy and actionable for people who are not IT experts. The reasons why a shift in how we view data is beneficial and how emTRUTH is leading innovations in blockchain for distributed data management. Interaction and questions are welcomed and encouraged. About Irene Irene Woerner is CEO and Co-Founder of emTRUTH. Irene and Ron (CTO and Co-Founder) chose to focus their foundational technologies in healthcare, because of the meaningful impact it can have in improving outcomes while managing costs. emTRUTH is Irene’s second startup. Between startups, she was a technology consultant to Fortune 500 companies. Irene’s first startup provided SaaS before there was an acronym, to the electronics industry and was acquired by a publicly traded company. Prior to that startup, Irene was with NASA JPL where she was responsible for flight and ground software on a mission to Pluto and also led a team of researchers on advanced information systems.