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Use Case #1: Drug Traceability – Blockchain Use Cases in HealthcareWhat is the problem?Drug counterfeiting is a major problem in the pharmaceutical industry. Here are some metrics revealed by the Health Research Funding Organisation:10% to 30% of the drugs sold in developing countries are counterfeit;The counterfeit drug market is worth $200 billion annually;Internet sales of counterfeit drugs account for $75 billion of the total market;Most of the counterfeit drugs are manufactured in either India or China;About 60 different Pfizer medicines and products were being counterfeited around the world as of 2014;WHO estimates that 16% of counterfeit drugs contain the wrong ingredients, while 17% contain the wrong levels of necessarily ingredients.The main issue with fake drugs isn’t the fact that they are fake but rather that they can be very different from the original product in a quantitative and qualitative way. Indeed, many of them don’t have the active ingredients they claim they do. This can be particularly dangerous for the patients that take the counterfeit drug since it won’t treat the disease it is supposed to treat.Furthermore, if the ingredients and the dosages are different, the product can trigger unexpected secondary effects that can lead to death. From a more economical perspective, drug counterfeiting represents an annual loss of 10,2 billion euros for the European pharmaceutical sector and 37.700 jobs are lost because manufacturers employ less people than they would if fake drugs didn’t exist.How can Blockchain help?The main characteristic of blockchain technology that is useful in drug traceability is security. Each new transaction added to a block is immutable and timestamped, making it easy to track a product and make sure the information cannot be altered.A blockchain can be either public or private. To insure the authenticity and traceability of the drugs, the companies that register a product on the blockchain have to be trustworthy. Hence, only private blockchains controlled by a central entity are logical to make sure that fake drugs are not registered. A company’s access to the “drug blockchain” would therefore be a proof that the drugs they produce are authentic.The pharmaceutical companies decide which actors of the supply chain act as miners. It could be manufacturers, distributors or retailers. Depending on the position on the supply chain, each person could have different rights: labs can register drugs whereas wholesalers can only verify transactions.When a drug is produced, a hash is generated that contains all the relevant information about the product. Each time the drug moves from an entity to another (eg: from the manufacturer to the distributor), the information is stored on the blockchain, making it easy to track the drug.Image source: Anca PetreOne of the main issues today, is that there is no harmony between the systems used to track drugs, and often, stakeholders on the supply chain have an incomplete vision of the origin and destination of the products they receive. Imagine the supply chain like a puzzle where each actor owns a piece of the puzzle.Most of the time, the complete puzzle is hard to put together, allowing fake drugs to enter the chain and reach the patient. With blockchain technologies, each piece of the puzzle is stored in a safe and secure way, with each stakeholder adding to the puzzle as the drug goes down the supply chain. At each step, it is possible to see the entire puzzle built so far and have a trustful vision of the history of the product.Furthermore, if a problem is detected and a batch has to be withdrawn from the market, blockchain technologies make it easier for the company to find their products and hence, avoid any complications.Blockchain technologies help with two main issues when it comes to drug traceability: first, it allows companies to track their products down the supply chain, creating an airtight circuit, impermeable to counterfeit products. Second, it also allows stakeholders, and especially labs, to take action a posteriori in case of a problem by identifying the exact location of their drugs.Use Case #2: Clinical Trials – Blockchain Use Cases in HealthcareWhat is the problem?In the pharmaceutical industry, clinical trials are designed to test the tolerance and effectiveness of a product on a group of patients in order to validate or invalidate hypothesises. Usually they take several years and the outcomes are critical for the future of the drug.Pharmaceutical companies and their sponsors can invest billions of dollars and a non-conclusive result could have great financial repercussions. Due to the importance of the results in clinical trials, fraud is not uncommon. However, it is not easy to estimate how frequent it is. Indeed, those committing fraud are not likely to admit what they did and the problem is usually under-reported.During clinical trials, a considerable amount of data is produced – safety and quality reports, statistics, blood tests, surveys, medical imagery – and large groups of people are involved, making it hard to track and control everyone. Hence, mistakes can be committed along the way, some unintentionally and others not.Fraud usually includes modifying or hiding data that could compromise the advance of the clinical trial and damage the image of an organization among regulatory agencies or patients. Different types of data can me modified or manipulated.First of all, the trial has to be very precisely designed, in term of hypothesis, research protocols and data keeping methods. This information is not always shared prior to the beginning of the trial, which allows participants to modify the protocols to favour a positive outcome. Afterwards, all the patients involved in the trial have to sign Informed consent Forms that can be incomplete or even fabricated if the researchers failed to obtain consent.Moreover, throughout the trials, patients undergo biological tests and complete surveys to track the evolution of their condition. However, the data that is collected from the patient and the one reported on standardized forms can be different. Usually, the reports are compared between the participating centers to spot inconsistent data but this type of fraud is not rare especially in trials that occur in only one centre.How can Blockchain help?Blockchain can provide proof-of-existence for any document and allow anyone to verify the authenticity of said document. In order to add new data – in the form of transactions – the majority of nodes have to agree that it is valid and coherent with the blockchain history. Hence, modifying existing information would require changing the records of the majority of the computers in the network.This characteristic of blockchain is very powerful when applied to clinical trials. Indeed, as mentioned above, data is often altered or modified because there is currently no system that prevents it.A study conducted by Dr. Irving and Dr. Holden looked at how exactly blockchain can be used to provide proof-of-existence for clinical trial data and allow anyone to verify it. In order to be stored on the blockchain, data from the trial goes through an SHA256 calculator that provides a hash, which is a unique code, specific to the content of the document (trial protocol, biological results, Informed Consent Forms, etc.). Even a small change in the original file could result in a completely different hash. Using a bitcoin wallet, public and private keys are provided.The public key proves that a certain document was registered on the blockchain at a certain time. If during the trial, someone has doubts about the authenticity of data they encounter, they can verify that information they have is similar to the original information stored on the blockchain.To do so, the person would have to run the data they have through the SHA256 calculator and compare the public and private keys that are generated. If the newly created keys are identical to the original ones on the blockchain, this means that the data has not been altered.As blockchain reduces the risk of data fraud, trustworthy protocols and results can be published facilitating the replication of the study and collaboration in the scientific community.Use Case #3: Patient Data Management – Blockchain Use Cases in HealthcareWhat is the problem?When it comes to patient data management, there are two main issues in the healthcare industry. First, each patient is unique therefore there is no such thing as a common disease or common treatment strategy. What works on a patient might not work on the other due to inter-individual variability. Hence, access to complete medical records is essential in order to adapt the treatment and provide personalised care. Healthcare is becoming more-and-more patient-centred. Second, sharing information among the medical community is a major challenge.Still today, doctors use social networks to communicate and share patient data. This type of medical data is sensitive and should always go through secured networks when divulgated. Moreover, the lack of secure structure to share data is an important obstacle for scientific advances. Indeed, medical records are kept in very different locations, and there is no common database. Allowing the researchers to access the data could heavily contribute to scientific advances worldwide especially when it comes to rare diseases or minorities.Finally, blockchain also addresses the notion of data ownership. Today, the patient cannot claim full ownership of his medical records because giving him complete control over the information would also allow him to change certain information or even delete parts of it. This could have repercussions on both his health and public health. The downside of not letting the patient own his data is that he doesn’t always have control over who is using and sharing it. This is paritcularly true when it comes to weareables.How can Blockchain help?Blockchain can provide a structure for data sharing as well as security. This is how: healthcare providers collect information from the patient such as name, date of birth, procedures performed and prescriptions. The data is stored in the organisation’s existing databases and/or on cloud computing systems. A hash is created from each source of data and is redirected to the blockchain along with the patient’s public ID. Smart contracts are used to manage patient data access.Through an API, healthcare stakeholders can query the blockchain that provides the location where the data can be found without revealing patient identity.If needed, the patient can share his full medical record (with or without identifiable data) to any stakeholder. For instance, he could share identifiable data with his doctors and non-identifiable data with Big Pharmas looking for phase IV information. The patient can decide to whom he gives access to and on which conditions. Once accessed, data can be analysed and shared by the medical community and researchers.Image source Source: Booz Allen HamiltonSource: Booz Allen HamiltonOne of the main advantages of this technology, is that it allows the patient to control the access he gives to his medical records. The patient defines through a smart contract the condition on which his data can be accessed on the blockchain. In fact, all this will be done through an API and the patient will set the conditions on his profile.When the patient is conscious: the combination of the patient’s and the provider’s private keys unlocks the access to the data.If the patient isn’t conscious: one or more third parties, picked by the patient, need to give their permission before the healthcare provider accesses the data.Either way, the patient has full control over his medical information and can decide whom to share it with.Furthermore, medical records are not the only source of data related to a patient. Indeed, as IoT develops, wearables become an important souce of information. This type of data could be used in the patient’s interest to track his activity, set goals and adapt treatments. All this can be done through smart contracts. Indeed, the patient and his GP can define the clauses of the contract and set objectives and consequences if the patient succeeds or fails to reach them.The patient’s wearables record information and compare it to the clauses of the smart contracts in order to produce an action (reward or penalty). Moreover, the data is also sent to the GP, that can interact with the patient, see what were the main difficulties in reaching the objective, and therefore adapt the care.Image source: Source: Booz Allen HamiltonSource: Booz Allen Hamilton

SPARE IQ TRANSFER PILL MAKER(Fair Warning: There are 2,112 words in this answer. Those with abbreviated attention spans and those who can’t see the truth in fiction ought to stop reading right here. If your attention span is 10 minutes or more, read it before the Quora Bot collapses it.)These were the headlines on a full page advertisement in The Economist, my favorite magazine to read while waiting in airports or flying:SELL YOUR SPARE IQFOR CASH: $10,000 PER POINTWITH 40 POINT MAXIMUMOne Urine Sample and One Pill Does ItSafely Legal; Privately Bought and SoldBy Physicians to the Rich and Famous~~~The copy went on to say that scientists from the Psychoneurotransplant Institute of California at Davis have been issued a special United States patent for a molecular-level technology that identifies, captures, encapsulates, and then transports out of the human body discreet, single particles of raw intelligence that can be retrieved from the seller's urine, isolated in five-point doses, and ingested in pill form by a recipient.In short: Spare Intelligence Transfer (SIT) is today a reality. The medical and business transaction is easy, painless, effective and profitable. The Food and Drug Administration has sanctioned the use of SIT on an “emergency experimental” basis in order to augment, as soon as possible, the intelligence of federal intelligence agents.Here is how SIT works:1) You swallow, with food, a single green 250 milligram tablet that contains a precisely calibrated dose of a patented magnetic molecule with a radioactive signature. The pill’s molecules slide through the body's blood-brain barriers, then attract and capture pre-calculated numbers of fresh, healthy new neural networks (N3), which are the foundation blocks of memory and adaptive intelligence.2) When the fresh, new nerve networks (N3) are bound to the patented magnetic molecules, the magnetic molecule exudes a calcium ion that builds a quick calcium phosphate shell around the magnetic molecule itself - as well as its nerve cell passengers. Then the microscopic egg-like sacs exit the brain tissues, slip back through the blood brain barrier with a thermodynamic puff of heat, and slide back into the blood. The sacs are filtered by the kidneys and flushed out of the body in the urine.3) The donor is required to save just one full day's worth of urine after taking the magnetic molecule pills, and to deliver the day's sample to a local laboratory of SIT, Inc. Our technicians dissolve the calcium shells and assay the samples for quantity of intelligence. Donors are paid on the spot $US10,000 cash for each viable and potent spare intelligence point (SIP), up to a 40-point maximum.4) We then proprietarily process and sell the new nerve networks (N3) in capsule form. The bundles of SIP flock into the brains of the recipients, establish themselves near particular cellular receptors in the cranial and/or enteric (gut) nerve systems. The bundles add instantly available cognitive brain powers to whomever ingests them.If you don't understand the significance of the four paragraphs above, it is a fair indication that you may wish to buy spare intelligence points from us.If indeed you do comprehend much of what you have read above, then you probably have intelligence points to spare and you may wish to cash in by selling them to us promptly.Simply answer the two questions that follow and you may calculate for yourself how much actual brain power you've got that you don't use, nor are likely to need. You may then decide what amount of SIP you may wish to make available for convenient sale.Without resort to cheating yourself, answer the following questions:What must we take for granted?a) God; b) Nothing; c) Consciousness; d) ChildrenWhat most interferes with understanding?a) God; b) Cocaine; c) Ego; d) BeautyIf you answered a) God and/or b) Cocaine then you enjoy potential as a spare intelligence buyer.However, if you answered Beauty and/or Ego, you clearly possess saleable SIP and, depending upon your circumstances, you may wish to sell your SIP now for immediate cash.Before you contact us to make an appointment, you may benefit from the answers to these most frequently asked questions about Spare Intelligence Transfer:10) What are the negative side effects of selling my SIP (Spare Intelligence Points)?Answer: In double-blind placebo tests of 1,013 selected volunteers, sugar pills (placebo) caused as many complaints as our magnetic molecule I.Q. capture pills did. Runny nose, constipation, tooth aches, and dry mouth were reported in about two percent of patients. About 2% percent reported difficulty in finding specific geographic locations in strange places.9) How is the market price of SIP set?A: Because Spare Intelligence Transfer, Inc., a Delaware corporation, holds an American patent and exclusive world rights to the Transfer Intelligence Protocols®, we can set the prices wherever we please for three decades or more within the United States of America. We have set the "buy" price high enough to attract a wide field of SIP sellers (who are smart enough to recognize a good deal when presented with one), and the "sell" price is set low enough to appeal to motivated, determined, and financially capable buyers.8) How does a seller feel after the SIP are collected?A: Most people who sell spare intelligence points report that they feel little different than normal. [In fact, most people actually use less than half of their potential intelligence in everyday life, and even the busiest brains rarely ratchet up above 80% or so.] We have purchased SIP from members of MENSA, a club of people with IQ scores above 160. None so far has complained of any unacceptable drop-off in brainpower, although roughly five percent noticed a small decrease in thought speed and a barely discernible coarsening of thinking patterns. In fact, even people with estimated IQs of 200+ who may use as much as 80% of their intelligence potential often hold 40 or more SIP in reserve. These gifted people think it is pragmatic to sell their SIP and use the money to buy good cars, to live in comfortable houses, travel to Australia and Italy and to send their children to elite schools. Sellers of SIP in the United States do report immediately increased affinities for right wing political and sports radio call-in shows, lotto games, Carnival cruises and Tom Cruise films. These new preferences appear to be harmless but permanent.7) Is it safe to buy SIP for our children and, if so, is there a minimum age?A: Many children are running over with spare intelligence points and to give them extra reserves before they are sexually mature is wasteful and senseless. (We do not buy from or sell to persons less than 21 years of age.) Better to fatten up their brains' neurons with copious doses of music, ideas and enlightenments in hope that when they grow older they'll be sellers rather than consumers. There is a small subset of "supremely gifted children" (about one in 10 million born) whose store of intelligence points is far above any common scale. When these supremely gifted children reach adulthood, they quickly sell 40 SIPs to us, which they say they cannot detect the absence of.6) Are the effects of buying and selling SIP temporary or permanent?A: Research indicates that the effects are long-lasting with very small decrement or increment over 10 years time. Buyers report an immediate "lift" in their way of life, an increased communication with children, a desire to be expressively sharper and briefer, and to listen and observe more carefully and less obtrusively than before. Most of them say that since they bought SIP most of their financial problems have ended or are about to. These feelings, except in certain cases of illness, remain bright and intense for at least 10 years [no validated data beyond one decade is available].5) Are there grades of spare intelligence points?A: Not recognizable at this time. All undamaged SIP seem to be essentially equal. About five out of every 100 SIP are somehow defective and these are easily segregated and removed with a laser/centrifuge and electron microscope scanning. Statistically, however, we can also expect that about five of every 100 SIP are exceptionally potent, but we don’t know how to measure the positive differences yet.4) My child is near the bottom of her class at Stanford University and she says she needs at least 40 points of spare intelligence to measure up to even her most average classmates. Does the expenditure of $400,000 worth of SIPs on her at age 21 (we can afford it), plus the out-of-state tuition, make sense in a cost-benefit ratio?A: That's perhaps a stretch. We find that if you are going to invest in gifting spare intelligence points, then the most profitable cost-benefit ratio comes if you "invest at the top." Don't pay for the points to bring a low scorer up to the mediocre; give SIP to the cream at the top and lift them higher. We find that a person who knows enough to know that they know nothing is the most successful candidate for a gift of spare intelligence points and the money thus invested is more likely to return good interest and dividends to investors.3) Can taking too many SIPs make you sick?A: In the pocketbook, yes. It is stupid to pay for more SIP than you can use and so, in a hyper-intelligent world, almost nobody will do it. If you should take an overdose of SIP, your extra un-needed sharpness will quickly tell you so, and you soon may decide to sell.2) How can my career be improved by buying or selling SIP derivatives?A: It can't. There is no free or futures market in SIP. Until 2038 at least, Spare Intelligence Transfer, Inc. is an approved, national security monopoly. All prices are set by us. Prices are firm for five years and not subject to brokerage fees. We entirely control SIP supply and we will enforce an anti-inflationary line against speculators. We have stoked up very intelligent people with added SIP and contracted them to invent new ways to keep the price of SIP calibrated to serve the top 5% of the international intelligence market.1) So how do we sign up to buy and sell?A: If you are of age (21) and possess up to 40 SIP that you wish to offer for sale, and you are willing to sign an informed consent form and a hold harmless agreement with Spare Intelligence Transfer, Inc., we will make an appointment for you to be pampered in our 18-wheel SIT-MOBILE, equipped with satellite television, comfortable massage chairs and sofas, free alcoholic beverages, books, newspapers and magazine and tapas snacks, wireless internet, and private bath rooms for your urine collection. If you take the magnetic molecule pill at 8 a.m. you will be done with the process and paid in cash by 4 p.m. the same day. You must be there in person, no surrogates are permitted.For more information on SIT technology, the background on the founders of SIT, Inc., plus links to other far-sighted psychoneurobiological research labs, go to http://spareIQtransfer.com~~~Here is a small selection of what people think about selling their SIP:Sellers:"I had an intelligence quotient of 145 and sold off 20 spare points for $200,000 cash and bought a yellow Hummer, in which I am now enjoying my life, as I listen to the Howard Stern and Rush Limbaugh shows." ~ Monte Pimm, dentist, Manhattan, Kansas"Get in on this deal, dudes! You can sell what you probably never use for good money, like in a great yard sale! I sold 40 intelligence points for a cool 400 grand, which I gave to my children. ~ JoWeekley, newspaper columnist, Norfolk, Virginia"When my American Express account was roughly $35,000 in arrears I paid it off by selling just four of my 10 spare intelligence points. I feel free!" ~ Linda Stassi, private chef, Wilmington, DelawareBuyers:“I got 20 SIP as a gift from my mother and father after graduation from Yale. Before they died, they each generously gave me 10. I can now hold my own with the smartest of my peers, and life is sweeter.” ~Robert Bell, architect, Washington, D.C.“Before I bought the extra 40 points for my 24th birthday present, I thought I was really smart. Now I know how lacking I actually was. Music sounds much better, too, and that’s wonderful enough.” ~ Brad Eagle, computer wizard, New York City“To get 40 points of SIP is like the never-ending buzz of the world’s purest crystal, and it doesn’t go away, day or night ~ it’s a full mind and body orgasm that you have to get used to as being the everyday normal, everyday you. You even smell better.” ~ Madonna, entertainer, California