Resident doctors seek unified healthcare system with technology

President, Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), Dr. Uyilawa Okhuaihesuyi, has called for the use of blockchain technology to proffer technical solutions to chain health record storage and access to drive e-health in Nigeria.

He is achieving this by partnering with Decentralised Electronic Health Record (DEHR), developers of a mobile healthcare app and online platform, with a focus on Africa and headquartered in Abuja Nigeria. According to NARD boss, who is a specialist registrar in the department of Orthopaedic surgery at National Orthopaedic Hospital Igbobi (NOHI), Lagos, with special interest in Pediatric Orthopaedics, “Everyone deserves to live in a world that affords them good healthcare safety, dignity and respect. To make sure that Africa is not forgotten or left behind we have made it a duty and obligation to introduce advanced technological healthcare delivery and management system across the country. We will partner with key actors and institutions both public and private to improve accessibility, credibility and efficiency.

“Our newly developed DEHR decentralise database and medical wallet system that has been developed by DEHR offers each patients a single true version of their health and medical record whenever and wherever it is needed on any device, and by using blockchain technology to secure and grant access we have eliminated all sorts of threats.” Okhuaihesuyi stressed that DEHR is unalterable, secure and decentralised, increasing security and significantly reducing the risk of data theft or adulteration. “Its Self Sovereignty and Digital Identity Management System will give each physician a self-sovereign digital identity attached to a digital asset wallet that holds the physician’s credentials. This is a first for Nigeria,” he said. Okhuaihesuyi added:

“Physicians will now have complete control, reducing the risk for identity theft and giving them an opportunity to be paid for access to their credentials and data. The credentials will be portable, and validated and authenticated digitally by the respective credentialing institution. DEHR will give physicians sovereign control over their digital identity, professional brand along with the data that identity creates. “With DEHR, physicians will be able to communicate directly and securely with no third-party influence or oversight, thereby protecting their professional identity and credentials while also protecting the privacy of their patients protected health information. The benefits this kind of partnership brings are endless and we will continue to innovate and deliver efficiently.”