Dive Brief:
- San Francisco startup Akiri launched its first product Wednesday, a network-as-a-service (NaaS) platform to the healthcare industry.
- The vendor-agnostic tool, called Akiri Switch, uses blockchain technology to securely transmit information using codes, according to a press release.
- “Security and compliance about medical healthcare data are extremely difficult,” Akiri CEO Adriaan Ligtenberg told MedCity News. “Our mission is to create a secure, compliant and trusted network for physicians, patients and the whole ecosystem.” Akiri’s first collaboration is with Celgene, a pharmaceutical company with ties to pharmacies, hospitals and patients.
Dive Insight:
Health2047 grabbed the media spotlight in 2016 with a $15 million Series A funding round led by the American Medical Association. Since then, Akiri has culled talent from Apple, GE Healthcare and other technology powerhouses, the company notes.
Akiri Switch’s blockchain technology allows organizations to move information securely between disparate systems, verify data sources and destinations and build trusted applications for providers, payers and patients.
Excitement about blockchain in healthcare is growing. While adoption rates hover around 12%, a Deloitte report found 35% of healthcare and life sciences organizations planned to utilize the technology by during 2017.
Payers are bullish about it as well. In a recent Black Book Market Research survey, 82% of payers claimed a working knowledge of blockchain.
In September, Change Healthcare launched its enterprise-scale blockchain technology for revenue cycle management in hospitals and health systems. It is available on the company’s administrative and financial network.
In 2016, ONC announced 15 winners to its blockchain challenge. The winners — which included Accenture, National Quality Forum and Mayo Clinic — were chosen for their potential to impact market viability, improve the flow of health information and foster transformative change.