Embleema, a Delaware-based startup, has opened its HIPAA-compliant blockchain-based health records platform to public testing. The company spent a year developing PatientTruth, a decentralized applica
Embleema, a Delaware-based startup, has opened its HIPAA-compliant blockchain-based health records platform to public testing. The company spent a year developing PatientTruth, a decentralized application that sits on top of the Embleema network and acts as the primary interface for sharing medical records between patients and healthcare providers.
The platform runs on Ethereum and was designed to address a persistent challenge in medical research: accessing real-world evidence that shows how treatments perform outside controlled clinical trials. Hospitals, insurance companies, and patient tracking apps all generate medical data, but collecting that information while protecting privacy and maintaining accuracy has proven difficult for pharmaceutical companies and researchers.
Current approaches to gathering this data carry significant limitations. Third-party data brokers sell aggregated data sets that strip away granular detail. Securing individual consent from patients at scale becomes impossible. Tracking a single patient's data over extended periods proves unworkable. Embleema built PatientTruth to circumvent these constraints.
The platform allows patients to upload medical records and data from fitness trackers, then control exactly who accesses what information. Patients receive cryptocurrency tokens for sharing their data. The blockchain maintains a permanent log of every access, enabling patients to confirm that authorized parties have reviewed their records.
Embleema structured the system so patients can share data in real time with pharmaceutical companies and healthcare authorities while retaining complete control. Patients decide both who accesses their information and the extent of that access.
Robert Chu founded Embleema after years leading global technology solutions at IMS Health. He left that position in June 2017 to launch the company.
"We focus on real data from real patients in the real world, something the health system has struggled with," Chu said. "Our mission is to turn the bottle upside down and put patients first, restoring their sovereignty over their data. Blockchain removes the need for third parties to broker the sharing of data, while providing the most accurate data possible for precision medicine. This is the best way to guarantee that individual patient data will be used to their benefit."
PatientTruth V1 offers several key functions. Patients view their medical history alongside data from Fitbit and compatible devices. They upload Continuity of Care Documents (CCD) files to the blockchain, with future support planned for HL7 and FHIR formats. Authorization controls let patients specify which parties access which records. The system records each access, building an audit trail. The platform distributes tokens to patients whenever they upload new records or Fitbit information.
