Jacqueline O’Doherty, a geriatric care manager was refused to see records and even the medication list for an 80-year-old patient who was being transferred from a hospital to a nearby recovery facility after suffering acute respiratory distress, even though the older woman had signed a form appointing O’Doherty as a “designated representative”.
Even if the law in many countries including the USA guarantees that people have a right to see and obtain a copy of their medical records, in the end, It depends on the institution whether they will or won’t let you do it.
Chao Cheng Shorland, a veteran female founder joined forces with Allen Alishahi, an Iranian expat, and together they found a way to help patients receive full ownership over their medical records and control to who they can give access, through ShelterZoom, a blockchain-based, smart-document SaaS provider.
By partnering with Policlinico Modelo de Cipolletti, a leading private hospital in Argentina, Chao, and Allen took the first step in mancipating patients globally to have full control over their medical records via document tokenization.
It will allow them to share their medical data with other doctors and hear second or third opinions whenever they want. It will also prevent bureaucratic delays and mistakes which are so crucial in healthcare.
Chao Cheng-Shorland, CEO of ShelterZoom, said:
“Our partnership with Policlinico Modelo de Cipolletti is the first time in history that patients will have complete ownership and control over their medical records.”
“In addition to empowering patients to own and control their own medical records, they will also benefit from unprecedented levels of security due to them being tokenized via the blockchain,” Chao mentioned. “This allows patients to share the necessary parts of their medical records with a clinic or pharmaceutical company and then revoke access when it is no longer relevant.”
ShelterZoom decided to start in Argentina due to the severe lack of data security and privacy in the country. In 2020 a database of more than 115,000 Argentinians who applied for COVID-19 circulation permits was exposed on the web including DNI numbers, tax ID numbers, and other information.
Shelterzoom’s technology has a solution that shields patients’ medical data from cyber breaches. Their latest product, Document GPS is an extension that enables users to track their email attachments and revoke access, even after a recipient has opened the email.