FDA, IBM Watson Health to Study Application of Blockchain Technology

The Food and Drug Administration and IBM Watson Health are forming a partnership to investigate potential ways that blockchain technology can be used in healthcare. The agency and IBM subsidiary have signed a two-year agreement that will enable them to jointly explore ways to use the emerging technology. Initial efforts will focus on oncology-related data. Proponents of blockchain technology believe it could have wide applicability in healthcare. It enables the collection of data from a variety of sources, and keeps an audit trail of transactions, thus establishing accountability and transparency in the data exchange process.