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Welcome to the first piece of a new educational and insightful series into the world of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. I understand with meme coins and NFT’s stealing the show, it’s not much limelight on the plethora of other tokens and protocols holding much more purpose than dog themed coins and JPEG images (I won’t talk too much mess about NFT’s, I own a couple; meme coins, not so much). In this series we will discuss various networks, assets, and protocols within the cryptocurrency field with preeminent potential, projects that can potentially re-construct industries across the board- from Finance to Agriculture, to Healthcare (which we’ll be discussing today), to Supply Chain Management and even Retail. In the blockchain space, there are many ways to stand out, and these distinct vocations create lanes of their own combatting common setbacks within the space like slow and costly transactions due to network congestion; and offering more efficient real-world solutions, giving ownership back to consumers and bringing trust back into commerce.
Our First Project: Solve.Care
Built on the Ethereum network, Solve.Care is a blockchain healthcare platform aiming to reconstruct the payment, management and delivery of healthcare services worldwide. According to the company’s lightpaper, at least $8 trillion dollars is spent on healthcare globally, with $1 trillion going to administration costs (12.5%). The National Health Expenditure Accounts (NHEA) stated in 2020 the US spent $4.1 trillion on healthcare (19.7% of the nation’s GDP), and by 2040, the annual total worldwide is expected to touch $18 trillion. Moreover, there are still regions of the world where healthcare coverage is much better than others; Solve’s purpose is to not only reduce overall costs, but also improve access to care on a global scale.
Components
Solve Care’s platform contains different decentralized applications known as DApps built for patients, doctors, employers and insurance companies. As stated in the lightpaper, each user comes with a Care wallet which holds one’s Care Cards and Coins and acts as a personalized healthcare administrator. With these, patients are able to make appointments, manage prescriptions, share records and more. On the care wallet app, there is a decentralized open network known as the Global Telehealth Exchange that connects patients and doctors worldwide, through the click of a button. On the exchange, doctors are able to verify coverage and deductibles, publish personal availability, issue prescriptions and so on. Physicians are able to begin their own digital practice, allowing 24/7 healthcare access as stated on the Solve Care website. Providers are ensured with verified credentials, so patients are connected with only the most qualified doctors accessible. I won’t get too technical with the technology as it is quite complex, so below are a few use case examples as provided in the Solve Care lightpaper.
Token Usage
Solve Care’s platform network contains two different token mechanisms in which help the platform operate up to standard. The Care Coin as mentioned earlier is a payment currency used to pay insurers and contain no fixed supply. The token is normally issued by providers and is backed by their personal financial reserves; these tokens are not publicly traded and can be denominated in any currency. The Solve token on the other hand, is the network’s native token used to transact on the platform as well as interact with the interface. This token is publicly traded and contains a fixed supply of 1 billion tokens, (43% currently circulating according to CoinMarketCap).
Blockchain technology can help the healthcare industry in numerous ways: it has the potential to drastically improve and reduce overall expenses, providers can get paid accurately and almost instantaneously. Those in developed countries gain better access as opposed to their traditional healthcare system; and even with the Care Wallet, users are able to take advantage of Uber’s medical transportation service (for non-emergencies) without having to directly download the Uber app. In 2019, Solve Care partnered with Boehringer Pharmaceuticals (based in Germany) to launch The Diabetes Care Administration Network, to help better understand the disease for patients and provide steps that can be taken to manage it. Implementing this technology would also include more transparency around things such as supply management; the MediLedger Network, overseen by the American company Chronicled, is a blockchain-powered network that provides accurate transaction-related data such as contracts and pricing of products in real time for affiliated trading partners within the life science industry. Users remain in control of their personal data and all information is shared between the involved parties; there is no intermediate entity involved whatsoever.
These use cases don’t even begin to scratch the surface of what blockchain can accomplish, so tune in next week for our next promising project within the cryptocurrency sector!