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Steadying the Personal Identity Information Game with Self-Sovereign Identity
trantorindia | Updated: July 6, 2021
With the digital identity ecosystem shift, ownership, consent, and privacy are recurring themes that govern user data. Traditional identity management models are defined by centralized, isolated, and inefficient systems exercising excessive control over user data.
Challenges with existing personal identity systems in healthcare
Patient Identity is of utmost importance as it provides access to insurance claims, medical records, health services and ensures smooth functioning of the healthcare machinery.
According to the World Bank’s ID4D Database, “almost one billion people globally lack any form of legally recognized identification.” As can be expected, this adversely affects immigrants and marginalized communities who lack access to proper healthcare, banking, and essential services.
Maintaining digital identity with verified credentials promises to eliminate issues encountered with physical identification credentials. With the raging global COVID-19 outbreak, this has become imperative to make healthcare systems efficient and accessible for tracking and tracing the virus’s global spread.
The current centralized identity systems are vulnerable to data breaches, impacting patient identity, consent management, and information access across stakeholders. Self-Sovereign Identity may be a powerful solution for this problem.
Self-Sovereign Identity – the solution to centralized identity systems
Self-Sovereign Identity or SSI is an identity that the user owns. It can be imagined as a portable identity for an individual or an organization independent of a centralized controlling authority. The identity credentials are held in the owner’s digital identity wallet, which can exercise complete control over who can access exactly what information.
The ID owner chooses what attributes of their identity are to be shared with other parties. SSI is based on blockchain or Distributed Ledger Technology, with Decentralized Identifiers and Verified Credentials as pillars of the digital identity management system.
With matters of data ownership, consent, and privacy increasingly driving our data decisions today, Self-Sovereign Identity promises to be the future of the personal identity information game. SSI empowers the owner with complete control over the dissemination and access of personal data. With a more secure system in place, SSI technology promises a plethora of benefits.
- Reduction in bureaucracy
- More interoperability among systems
- Consent and control over sensitive information
- Reduction in data management costs
Uses in Healthcare
The Healthcare system is expected to be revolutionized with the adoption of digital identity systems and Self-Sovereign Identity. Here we will take a look at some of the most prominent use cases where SSI is set to majorly shift the global healthcare ecosystem.
- Patient identity and insurance Patient identity and efficient identification hold utmost importance in healthcare systems. SSI will revolutionize the way information is shared between organizations and insurance agencies, enabling efficient data transfer and maintenance of medical records.
- Interoperability between healthcare systems The use of a common identity metasystem will enable seamless verification of identity credentials issued by other parties. With secure ways of transferring data, SSI will seamlessly integrate siloed healthcare systems. According to the World Bank, this can increase patient management efficiency, provide a better quality of treatment, and reduce costs.
- Digital birth certificatesWith more than a billion people worldwide not having a legal identity document, their ability to access healthcare services significantly reduces. With SSI, an interoperable identity system will enable hospitals or birth facilities to issue birth certificates instantaneously digitally.
The possibilities are exciting, especially as we face novel global challenges in healthcare today. While we still have a long way to go, Self-Sovereign Identity promises a paradigm shift in the way organizations and individuals to engage in information sharing.
We can envision the impact of SSI-powered digital identity systems combined with automation on the healthcare ecosystem. Thanks to automation, we will be one step closer to a world with strong pharmacovigilance and safer drugs.
Attain the Nash Equilibrium for Personal Identity Information Game!
