Published on: 08/12/2022
Healthtech company MAPay to store medical records as NFTs
Healthtech firm MAPay has partnered with the Ministry of Public Health of Maharashtra, India, to store patients’ medical records as 100 million NFTs on the Algorand blockchain.
The Indian state of Maharashtra has a population of approximately 125 million in 2022, up from 112 million in 2012. MAPay, a global payment network for healthcare, will use its NFT technology to allow secure and decentralized storage for the personal health data of Maharashtrians.
Traditional healthcare payment systems are slow, inefficient and expensive. This NFT application will help eliminate healthcare intermediaries, which often cause bottlenecks and price increases for patients, healthcare providers, insurance companies and banks.
“Our vision and passion is aligned with our global partners: to democratize healthcare. We want to truly transform Healthcare to Human care,” MAPay CEO Michael Dershem said. “This use case is a perfect real-world application of blockchain technology. The impact on individuals and society as a whole is what we wake up to accomplish every day.”
The company intends to execute the plan in various locations worldwide, including the United States and Bermuda Island. Dr. Sabine Kapasi, Head of UN Health Policy and Governance Strategy, commented on the collaboration, saying that she recognized the importance of clinical health record integration and storage. She maintained that the move is critical for the development of self-driving AI solutions, particularly in areas where reliable, accessible healthcare is scarce.
“Our vision and passion is aligned with our global partners: to democratize healthcare. We want to truly transform Healthcare to Humancare,”
Michael Dershem, MAPay CEO
More about Algorand
Silvio Micali, a computer scientist with extensive experience in cryptography and a recipient of the Turing Award and the RSA Prize, founded Algorand in 2017. The platform aims to fix the blockchain trilemma that forces a blockchain to pick between security, scalability and decentralization.
“We have a shared vision with MAPay on how friction can be eliminated from payment and settlement systems in an efficient, secure and transparent manner where all involved parties benefit from immediate transaction finality and simple-to-use services,” Algorand CEO W. Sean Ford said.
Algorand is one of the fastest L1 blockchains, with over 1,000 transactions per second, nominal fees and less than 5 seconds completion times. Its carbon-negative, sustainable technology allows instant transaction completion, consensus and network-level security and advanced smart contracts.
As the technology of choice for over 2,000 global organizations, the Algorand ecosystem is trying to transform the next generation of financial products in various industries, including healthcare, finance, humanitarian aid, government, sports and entertainment.
MAPay in Bermuda
The collaboration with the Maharashtra government is similar to MAPay and Algorand’s first attempt to revolutionize the healthcare industry when they started last year in Bermuda.
MAPay allows Bermuda to reduce transaction fees for healthcare transitions via the MAPay network, which runs on Algorand. MAPay has already begun a patient-driven data exchange in Bermuda to boost medical interoperability and population health management in the country.
Bermuda Asset Management chief Kevin Richards said MAPay had kept its commitment to bringing world-class partners to the island. When Richards first met Team MAPay in 2018, he said they convinced him of the positive effect that blockchain-enabled solutions have to offer in addressing inefficiencies in healthcare payments, both locally and globally.
