Last year we published the NFTS AND HEALTHCARE, A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN(?), where we discussed the hype surrounding NFTs and their applications across industries, including healthcare.
An NFT (non-fungible token) is a one-of-a-kind digital asset/identifier recorded on a blockchain that cannot be substituted or copied. The simplest explanation for an NFT is a non-fungible digital certificate of ownership.
They say that time is the wisest counselor of all. As a community, we have better understood NFT functionality since April 2021, when we wrote the previous article. We are sharing the update in the following paragraphs.
NFT market update: Who are the firsts who employed NFT technology?
While the art NFT hype has been subsiding, we have seen multiple technology NFT applications arise. Last year we mentioned that NFTs could be used to validate car ownership, and home ownership, among others. We are no clairvoyants, but some of these NFT functionalities materialized in 2022.
Alpha Romeo SUV Tonale is the first car with an in-built NFT.
In February 2022, Alfa Romeo announced that its new electric SUV, Tonale, would come with an NFT. The NFT would include the Vehicle Identification Number, vehicle model, mileage, driving modes, and battery status in hybrid versions, all stored on the blockchain.
One of the rationales behind the NFT is that Alfa Romeo wants to address the manipulated speedometer scam, which is common in the used car market. In case of manipulation, the NFT would still show the correct mileage a car has.
Roofstock onChain sold a home via an NFT
In October 2022, a house in South Carolina was sold by Roofstock onChain through an NFT for the first time ever. How does it work? The real estate company that is helping the home seller creates an NFT representing ownership of the home, and whoever buys it owns the property.
Roofstock OnChain NFT marketplace sold the house by transferring the Home OnChain identity to an Ethereum address owned by the house buyer.
What’s the latest update on NFTs in healthcare?
There have been no significant advances with NFTs in healthcare in the past year. It is unsurprising since we, in the healthcare industry, know how slow the sector is to adapt to technologies compared to other sectors, and it makes sense. We are dealing with people’s lives here and should introduce “tried and tested technologies”; however, there is still room for more audacious innovation.
As we keep a close eye on digital healthcare trends, we cannot understate how important it is to keep updated with what is happening in the tech industry. Successes and failures in tech will dictate which technologies will have a role in other sectors.
Metaverse and NFTs in healthcare will transform the health sector.
What could be the catalyst for NFTs in healthcare is the dawn of the Metaverse age. Meta, Nvidia, and other tech companies have taken steps to create their own virtual worlds but are in the very early stages.
The Metaverse is the next stage of the internet, merging our physical and digital worlds. To what extent? Only time and our willingness to adopt such technologies will tell. This merge of the two worlds provides a unique opportunity for disease management and healthcare evolution.
NFTs in healthcare: Who will own and access sensitive health data?
NFTs can be the “layer” on which sensitive and reliable information can be stored and exchanged. The fact that NFTs can be coded to compartmentalize access to sensitive information will prove critical when electronic medical records become linked to disease management in the Metaverse.
Due to privacy laws’ enactment, we expect patients, their doctors, payers, and the government to have access to different types of information on the same digital token.
In the UAE, the first Metaverse hospital opened its “virtual” doors.
If you believe we are years away from delivering care on the Metaverse, the UAE begs to differ. Thumbay group launched in the UAE its first hospital on the Metaverse in October 2022. The objective is to staff the hospital with approximately 400 healthcare professionals who can deliver real-time consultations. The UAE sees the Metaverse healthcare delivery as a replacement for telemedicine services. We agree that this is the natural progression order.
Overcoming barriers to the wide employment of NFTs in healthcare.
NFTs in healthcare will likely realize their potential after the Metaverse infrastructure creation. This infrastructure will require the creation of Web 3.0, which will support faster internet speeds, reliable and safe devices (virtual and/or augmented reality headsets, consoles, wearables, etc.), faster processors, and next-generation connectivity through the Internet of Things and next-generation operating systems.
We are bullish about the role of NFTs in healthcare due to significant cross-sector investment and decision-makers’ increased interest in reducing healthcare costs. Digital technologies are imperative to streamlining services and reducing disease management costs.
As we enter a new Internet age, the functionality and relevance of NFTs in the digital world are still alive despite the initial hype. NFTs, alongside Web 3.0 and the blockchain, will become the scaffolding of an infrastructure, which will support optimized information exchange in what will be a new era of healthcare. For this to happen, there needs to be a collaborative endeavor between the public and private health sectors fuelled by demand from an increasingly digitally literate population.
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Sources:
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/08/new-alfa-romeo-suv-equipped-with-nft-blockchain-technology.html
https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/the-first-nft-home-just-sold-for-175000/437522