Aetna, Ascension Sign On To Healthcare Blockchain Alliance

Aetna, a health insurance subsidiary of CVS Health, and Ascension, a St. Louis-based nonprofit health system, have agreed to join the Synaptic Health Alliance, a healthcare blockchain group formed to apply blockchain technology to maintaining provider directories. Other alliance members include Humana, MultiPlan, Optum, Quest Diagnostics, and UnitedHealthcare. Synaptic’s first pilot project, launched in April, is looking at how sharing data across healthcare organizations using blockchain technology can improve data accuracy, streamline administration, reduce costs, and improve access to care. Maintaining up-to-date health plan provider directories is a challenging issue facing healthcare organizations, explained Synaptic in a press release. Federal and state laws require that health plans maintain directories containing information about physicians and other healthcare providers. Industry estimates indicate that $2.1 billion is spent annually across the healthcare system acquiring and maintaining provider data, the release explained.