TORONTO – The opportunity exists in healthcare to hand over control of medical records to patients who can choose not only what info providers can see but what personal data gets added to records via wearables, genomics and even lifestyle choices.

And once patients begin accumulating more data about themselves in personal health records (PHRs), they can opt to anonymize that information and sell it to researchers, vastly expanding the pool of information available for clinical studies.

[ Further reading: Blockchain: The complete guide ]

Because no data is as sensitive as a medical record, being able to assure its security and immutability through blockchain encryption represents a unique opportunity to "repatriate" and "monetize" that record for the patient, according to Dr. Eric Hoskins, chair of Canada's Federal Advisory Council on the Implementation of National Pharmacare.

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