Factom, a blockchain firm specializing in data authentication, has won financial support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop a healthcare records platform for the organization.
Factom, a blockchain firm specializing in data authentication, has won financial support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop a healthcare records platform for the organization.
The infrastructure would employ biometric security measures and enable medical professionals to access patient data across borders through decentralized storage. This proves particularly valuable in developing regions where medical documentation has traditionally relied on paper files housed within individual clinics, creating barriers for patients who relocate or live in unstable areas.
"The Gates Foundation can use this technology to improve delivery of vaccines, HIV relief efforts, and other diseases by having a tool that is border-less and can follow the patient throughout their life regardless of where they end up in the world," a spokesperson for Factom told MiningPool. "The foundation already supports many of these efforts but Factom's technology can help them manage it better by putting control of patient information into the hands of patients and their providers of care."
Using mobile devices, clinicians could instantly retrieve immunization histories for children in remote locations or enable HIV patients to track their viral load metrics from anywhere on the planet.
Factom has prior experience in the medical sector. In April 2015, the company collaborated with HealthNautica, an enterprise providing medical data services, to explore how tamper-proof, timestamped records could streamline insurance processing while safeguarding patient data integrity and maintaining anonymity.
The healthcare space has attracted other blockchain enterprises as well. Gem announced its health-focused platform in July, creating an Ethereum-powered network for building healthcare solutions. Philips' dedicated blockchain research division joined as the initial institutional partner within the Gem Health ecosystem.
This foundation grant marks the second major award Factom received in 2016. Previously, in June, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology office granted the firm $199,000 to strengthen identity verification systems for Internet-connected devices.
Factom's financing trajectory accelerated significantly in October with a $4.2 million Series A capital injection. Tim Draper, managing Draper Associates' investment portfolio, led the round. Other backers included Fenbushi Corporation of China, Plug and Play, BnkToTheFuture, Propertyinfo Corporation, Star Vista Capital LLC, and CashBUS, supplemented by individual investors Kevin Spiers, Darla Spiers, Hillary Ryan, and Leon Fu.
