Dell Medical looks into blockchain

The city of Austin has looked at blockchain technology as a tool to help homeless people preserve critical personal information. Now, Dell Medical School at the University of Texas is looking at how to use so-called distributed ledgers to make improvements in the health care field. The medical school has partnered with the Austin Blockchain Collective’s health care working group, which can draw on resources from some of the 140 blockchain and cryptocurrency companies that have a presence in Austin. Improvements in integrating electronic health records, protecting personal information, tracking accreditation of health care providers and monitoring patient activity are some of the use cases for blockchain technology. Anjum Khurshid, the director of data integration at the medical school, will be a co-chair for the working group. The medical school was created after Austin area voters approved bond funding giving the school approximately $35 million per year to address community health, specifically for at-risk populations.