Major US healthcare companies have joined forces in order to test blockchain solutions in a move that shows how seriously different sectors are taking the tech that lies at the heart of cryptocurrency transactions. This also demonstrates how CFD investors can apply the knowledge that they gain in one sector, such as forex trades, to another sector.
Ascension and the recently merged CVS Health-Aetna Group are joining five other major US healthcare players to pilot the application of blockchain technology. The ultimate aim is to improve data quality while at the same time reducing costs.
US weekly news outlet Modern Healthcare reported at the start of this week that the new alliance is looking into the way that decentralised storage will allow information to become more accurate.
As anyone involved in crypto forex trades will know, blockchain’s ability to offer system security and keep track of copies of data in virtually real time is why so many different applications of the tech are currently under examination.
The Modern Healthcare article revealed that healthcare providers in the US are spending up to $2.1bn (£1.6bn) every year just to store sensitive data. If a dedicated secure blockchain system can come into place, then insurers, customers and third-party providers could all access it and cut operational costs.
Quest Diagnostics Chief Information Officer Lidia Fonseca is at the forefront of the initiative, and her counterpart at Ascension, Gerry Lewis, went on record to point out that blockchain technology could securely share clinical information.
As decentralised solutions become more common, forex traders will likely be able to apply the knowledge built up over their history of trades and put it to good use in other areas of operations. As CFDs are essentially trades without relation to the actual details of the underlying assets, the ability to switch between industry sectors is something that appeals to many investors.
Decentralised solutions are already occurring in other countries’ healthcare sectors, as Taipei Medical University Hospital in Taiwan and South Korean Hospital Myongji are currently live-testing blockchain systems.
In addition to CVS Health-Aetna Group, which has an estimated 22 million members, and Ascension, which is the largest not-for-profit health system in the States, the new alliance also features Humana, Multiplan, UnitedHealth Group’s Optum, UnitedHealthcare and Quest Diagnostics.
The importance of the new move shows in the results that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services uncovered when it analysed data from between September 2016 and August 2017. The findings revealed that at least 50% of the information on Medicare Advantage organisations contained mistakes.
In the US, health insurance is a big issue, and companies offering coverage usually maintain their own directories of healthcare providers. If these directories do not update, then this can lead to the delay of claims and the insurers themselves facing fines, which adds even more to the overall outlays and overheads.
For healthcare providers, the lack of database maintenance means that their own services can receive an incorrect listing. Therefore, the benefits of using blockchain tech are multifaceted, especially when the current costs are so high.
Lewis said that Ascension joined the alliance because of the scale of the venture and the ways in which a multidisciplinary solution could become viable.
“We believe this alliance has the market presence and velocity to actually change how we exchange data to provide healthcare,” he said. “Providers, payers and consumers – you need to have all three engaged to look at this.”
Not only does the size of this project point towards the way that blockchain tech is rapidly being adapted for many different uses, but it also shows how knowledge from one area can benefit another. Any CFD trader who is familiar with cryptocurrency dealing will know more than most about the way that blockchains work and the huge benefits that they can bring.
With increased levels of security and added levels of transparency, blockchain tech is at the root of the explosion of Bitcoin and other digital currencies. CFD traders in forex markets have specialised knowledge that they can use wherever blockchain systems occur in the future.
The reason why CFD traders may have advantages over more traditional market investors when it comes to the cross-fertilisation of tech is that the most successful traders learn how to remove emotion from their strategies.
In CFD trading, the underlying asset, whatever it may be and whichever sector it might originate in, has no attachment value to the investor. The only issue that matters in choosing a market for CFD trading is knowing price movements and taking a position on them that will lead to making a profit.
Going long or going short and knowing when to shorten or extend a position held are the keys to CFD trading success, and these can apply to any asset that is likely to have price value changes over the term chosen by the investor.
Therefore, a new market such as blockchain technology that somehow involves an aspect that has been successful in previous trades will likely be of interest to CFD traders with essentially transferable skills.