IOST Allies with Japan’s “Pracs” to Develop Blockchain-Based Medical Record Platform

Decentralized blockchain network IOST (IOST) on June 8, 2020, announced a partnership with Japan-based Medical Health Tech Venture “Pracs.” The alliance aims to promote distributed ledger technology (DLT) in the healthcare industry by developing a blockchain-enabled secure, transparent, and tamper-proof-on-chain medical record platform. 

The Promising Future of Blockchain in Healthcare Industry

The use of blockchain technology in the healthcare space is expected to balloon significantly in the coming years. According to research by Global Market Insights Inc., the R&D of DLT for data management in precision medicine and patient care will eclipse €1.6 billion by 2025. The versatility of DLT makes it a force to reckon across a wide array of industries, including finance, banking, and supply chain management, among others.

Similarly, blockchain’s potential to reshape the healthcare space cannot be overstated. The technology is expected to power a range of applications in the industry that ensure reliability and user confidentiality, such as data privacy and health information exchange.

IOST, being one of the world’s four largest public chains, continues to commit to fostering the use of DLT across various industries. Against that backdrop, IOST is now looking to explore the untapped potential of blockchain in reshaping the long-untouched healthcare space whose existing inefficiencies have been exposed by the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

The Story Behind Health Tech Firm Pracs Inc.

Pracs was established in 2017 as a student entrepreneurship support program at Kinki University of Japan. The health tech startup’s first prominent work was the development of in-house medical application software.

The software commercialized the disease management notebook (FAP PASSPORT) and the graduate research related to medical care at the university. The software could also be utilized for creating family trees for medical care. Witnessing the impact created by it, the university software has now been successfully installed in several medical institutions in Japan.

Per the announcement, Pracs’s long-term mission is to raise awareness surrounding the treatment of genetic diseases within the society by developing genetic medical information platform for all parties involved in medical treatment including both doctors and patients.

Commenting on the story behind the health tech firm, Hirotoshi Sakanoue, CEO, Pracs Inc., remarked:

“I have a congenital illness called microtia in my left ear, and for this treatment, I have been hospitalized and visited many times, including three times of general anesthesia surgery. I am now able to hear, though slightly, due to the artificial eardrum. From my personal experience, I become passionate to give something back to the medical field.”

Adding:

“At university, we decided to research and develop a new genetic medicine information platform where medical institutions, doctors, nurses, counselors promote information sharing between patients and families in order to support decision making in treatment. We aim to reduce the psychological burden on the patients.”

IOST’s Partnership with Pracs

Enterprise-geared decentralized blockchain project IOST, in conjunction with Pracs, will develop a platform to validate and evaluate existing medical data patients who also happen to be the actual owners of data. By focusing on user data privacy and safety, the platform aims to establish itself as a trustful alternative to the existing data-sharing platforms in the market.

The partnership will help the patients and providers of healthcare information by providing a platform that values the privacy and confidentiality of the shared data.

Through the partnership, the IOST team and Pracs are looking forward to jointly leverage the IOST blockchain technology to develop and implement robust and innovative changes in the medicinal field in Japan.

The alliance with Pracs is a testimony to IOST unyielding commitment to its “innovation chain, application chain, value chain” goal.