Healthcare blockchain startup Iryo is disrupting global healthcare by giving patients full control of their personal health records

The current medical health record process is broken, inefficient and needs to be fixed. Patient health records are considered one of the most sensitive kinds of personal information. An average person consults 20 different healthcare providers in their lifetime. Every time the person generates a personal healthcare records which are not aggregated and integrated across multiple health providers. In addition, managing and gaining insights from the volume of personal health record is one of the greatest challenges facing the global healthcare  industry. According to a study published by Dell, the healthcare industry is expected to generate more than 500 exabytes of data with an expected annual growth rate of 48%. This presents a looming challenge in data management. Although multiple standards try to address this issue, a lot of that data is still stored inside local silos in proprietary formats. As such reusability of the data and interoperability between dierent actors is often too expensive or even impossible.

Slovenia-based healthcare blockchain startup, Iryo, is aiming to solve this problem.  The startup is redefining and disrupting global healthcare by giving patients full control of their personal health records by unleashing the value of medical data for the new decentralised healthcare economy. The company provides a detail whitepaper on how to this problems using blockchain technology and artificial intelligence. You can read their whitepaper here. Below is a list of features and capabilities Iryo is using to address the current healthcare record challenges.

Founded by CEO and cofounder Vasja Bocko, Iryo  is  a new blockchain startup that is creating a globally participatory healthcare network . Their network will soon provide a modern electronic health record system for refugee camps in the Middle East as their first real-world use case.  Iryo Network is a zero-knowledge health record storage platform, with an anonymous query interface. It uses blockchain permission controls for patient record access and tokens to incentivize end users consent enabling artificial intelligence (AI) research.

Iryo -Zero Knowledge Based Network – Source:Iryo.io

All across the world, patients currently have little or no control in regards to how they interact with their medical records. A patient may have to see multiple specialists, forcing them to carry around copies of their records as they travel from one healthcare provider to the next. Additionally, the majority of medical data is scattered across different institutions and amongst different healthcare providers – all struggling with a lack of interoperability. Doctors have no option but to work with incomplete medical histories which ultimately hinders the level of care provided. By giving ownership of the medical record to the patient and using a consistent medical standard known as openEHR, Iryo is poised to redefine the value of medical data across the industry.

Iryo is partnering with an NGO called Walk With Me to provide the IT infrastructure needed to improve the quality of healthcare provided within camps managed by the organisation which are spread throughout the Middle East. Iryo will enable patients and their families to securely store their medical records within their own mobile devices. The dynamic nature of conflict zones prove the need for patients to have the ability to carry their medical histories with them. The Iryo platform will be deployed in refugee camps located throughout the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon, soon followed by other countries including Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt and Djibouti.

The Slovenian startup is striving towards making medical records a bearer instrument, which are independent of identity and always controlled by the holder, in this case, the patient. Access to medical data will be facilitated by the use of a blockchain and modern encryption protocols.

Iryo is a Slovenian blockchain startup creating a globally participatory healthcare network with an improved user experience for patients, healthcare workers, managers and researchers. By adopting openEHR medical standards and being open-source, Iryo is solving the issue of interoperability in healthcare from the ground up. His co-founder comes with a background in corporate finance, investments and product development, Vasja has more than 8 years of experience building and deploying highly functional digital solutions. Prior to Iryo, he held positions in UniCredit, 3fs, and Bitstamp. Vasja is a tested leader with a passion for blockchain & crypto-based product development.