BirthVenue is a blockchain-as-a-service company that works with start-ups, big companies, NGOs and even governments to help them utilise & implement platforms on top of Blockchain. You may have heard the term “Blockchain” or may even have a fair idea about it. But before we get into how Blockchain is being applied, in this specific case, to the healthcare industry, let's first look at Blockchain and break it down to understand how it really works.
Terminology Simplified
Blockchain is undoubtedly one of the most ingenious inventions that took place in the last few years. It is cryptographically designed to store information in ledgers in different nodes & computers distributed in multiple locations. Since it is a shared and immutable ledger, the information in it is open for anyone and everyone to see. Hence, anything that is built on the blockchain is by its very nature transparent and everyone involved is accountable for their actions.
Conventionally in health-tech, information has been stored centrally and hence it has been prone to get corrupt or get hacked. The decentralized characteristic of blockchain is what makes storing of records and files so easy and convenient that it takes minutes to check the full verified transactional history. By the way, that's only one of the many benefits that blockchain has for the healthcare industry.
A few ventures have already realized the benefits of blockchain after implementation. They are working to help decentralize insurance options, making it easier for people to share risk within a smaller community and seek insurance for specific and narrow uses, so on and so forth.
For example, SURETY.AI, a project from HEARTI, is providing blockchain based microinsurance to unbanked population, particularly in Asia. Their aim is to leverage Hearti’s AI tolls, combined with a new blockchain to give a seamless experience to banks and insurers by motivating investment in unbanked and uninsured population across regions.
On the other hand, Medishares is a blockchain based, decentralized and open source mutual aid marketplace. They use smart contracts for users looking to enter mutual aid insurance services, and for insurers looking to provide such services.
While Nexus Mutual, founded in 2017 is building blockchain based solutions for the insurance industry. Their goal is to replace existing insurance models with smart contract driven mutual markets. By helping people share risk across larger communities, their hope is to lower insurance costs and replace the need for bigger insurance companies.
Now, let's look at another success story that is closer to home, by an Insurtech company; "Truecover" based in Bengaluru, working with BirthVenue, their Blockchain partner.
TrueCover, co-founded by Ashish Chandra and Peeyush Jain has built a digital platform which allows all players in the insurance ecosystem to benefit from greater customer engagement, by keeping every aspect in the digital domain.
Truecover aims to remove the hassles and pain involved in processing claims. It also wants to eliminate the core challenge of trust in the insurance claims industry by leveraging Blockchain technology. Hence came the requirement of design and development of a version of dApp (decentralized app) taking 3 parties into account -
It is leveraging Hyperledger fabric as the core technology for building the platform. Through this platform, both the cashless and reimbursement claim+s for the customer will be processed automatically with these three parties coming together.
In the long conventional method of claiming insurance, there are multiple processes involved. All the three parties mentioned above coordinate to retrieve data/records, and the process of digging up these dates and the coordination with information flow back and forth gets very confusing, unorganized and tedious.
After the development of this new platform, signature-based certificates get attached to every document and the process gets automated via Smart Contracts, helping users complete their insurance claims in approximately 5 minutes, unlike the old method which took hours and even days at times. Another key differentiator is that all these records are unaltered and the flow is completely transparent, hence making the entire process smooth and hassle-free.
Rohit, founder of BirthVenue says "It is pertinent to mention that until now, there has been no decentralized and trustworthy way of validating a document or a certificate in this domain.
Almost all verification and certification has been achieved using physical documents and printed records. What TrueCover has done with the help of BirthVenue is that they have added this unique layer of a stamp in the form factor of a QR code, that gets appended to the document by the respective participant that acts like the signing authority."
Ashish, adds to it, “In effect, every other stakeholder in the value chain (be it the TPA, the hospital or the Insurance company) simply scans that QR from their TrueCover dashboard and obtain the validation of the certificate as well as who issued it."
This is one of those use-cases that make us seriously consider blockchain as a highly revolutionary technology in multiple verticals. Especially those where the transaction frequency is less and the costs per transaction are high. This goes beyond the hype of crypto and ICOs and truly helps solve the critical pressing real-world problems that we have at present.
Terminology Simplified
Blockchain is undoubtedly one of the most ingenious inventions that took place in the last few years. It is cryptographically designed to store information in ledgers in different nodes & computers distributed in multiple locations. Since it is a shared and immutable ledger, the information in it is open for anyone and everyone to see. Hence, anything that is built on the blockchain is by its very nature transparent and everyone involved is accountable for their actions.
Conventionally in health-tech, information has been stored centrally and hence it has been prone to get corrupt or get hacked. The decentralized characteristic of blockchain is what makes storing of records and files so easy and convenient that it takes minutes to check the full verified transactional history. By the way, that's only one of the many benefits that blockchain has for the healthcare industry.
A few ventures have already realized the benefits of blockchain after implementation. They are working to help decentralize insurance options, making it easier for people to share risk within a smaller community and seek insurance for specific and narrow uses, so on and so forth.
For example, SURETY.AI, a project from HEARTI, is providing blockchain based microinsurance to unbanked population, particularly in Asia. Their aim is to leverage Hearti’s AI tolls, combined with a new blockchain to give a seamless experience to banks and insurers by motivating investment in unbanked and uninsured population across regions.
On the other hand, Medishares is a blockchain based, decentralized and open source mutual aid marketplace. They use smart contracts for users looking to enter mutual aid insurance services, and for insurers looking to provide such services.
While Nexus Mutual, founded in 2017 is building blockchain based solutions for the insurance industry. Their goal is to replace existing insurance models with smart contract driven mutual markets. By helping people share risk across larger communities, their hope is to lower insurance costs and replace the need for bigger insurance companies.
Now, let's look at another success story that is closer to home, by an Insurtech company; "Truecover" based in Bengaluru, working with BirthVenue, their Blockchain partner.
TrueCover, co-founded by Ashish Chandra and Peeyush Jain has built a digital platform which allows all players in the insurance ecosystem to benefit from greater customer engagement, by keeping every aspect in the digital domain.
Truecover aims to remove the hassles and pain involved in processing claims. It also wants to eliminate the core challenge of trust in the insurance claims industry by leveraging Blockchain technology. Hence came the requirement of design and development of a version of dApp (decentralized app) taking 3 parties into account -
- TPAs (Third Party Administrators)
- Hospitals and
- Insurance providers
It is leveraging Hyperledger fabric as the core technology for building the platform. Through this platform, both the cashless and reimbursement claim+s for the customer will be processed automatically with these three parties coming together.
In the long conventional method of claiming insurance, there are multiple processes involved. All the three parties mentioned above coordinate to retrieve data/records, and the process of digging up these dates and the coordination with information flow back and forth gets very confusing, unorganized and tedious.
After the development of this new platform, signature-based certificates get attached to every document and the process gets automated via Smart Contracts, helping users complete their insurance claims in approximately 5 minutes, unlike the old method which took hours and even days at times. Another key differentiator is that all these records are unaltered and the flow is completely transparent, hence making the entire process smooth and hassle-free.
Rohit, founder of BirthVenue says "It is pertinent to mention that until now, there has been no decentralized and trustworthy way of validating a document or a certificate in this domain.
Almost all verification and certification has been achieved using physical documents and printed records. What TrueCover has done with the help of BirthVenue is that they have added this unique layer of a stamp in the form factor of a QR code, that gets appended to the document by the respective participant that acts like the signing authority."
Ashish, adds to it, “In effect, every other stakeholder in the value chain (be it the TPA, the hospital or the Insurance company) simply scans that QR from their TrueCover dashboard and obtain the validation of the certificate as well as who issued it."
This is one of those use-cases that make us seriously consider blockchain as a highly revolutionary technology in multiple verticals. Especially those where the transaction frequency is less and the costs per transaction are high. This goes beyond the hype of crypto and ICOs and truly helps solve the critical pressing real-world problems that we have at present.
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