According to a patent application, it has been reported that Walmart’s current investigation of blockchain technologies have met healthcare demands.

Blockchain technologies have devised a method to obtain a patient’s health records from a blockchain database even if they are unable to communicate. A verification from two different keys is needed for this step.

• A public key in a wearable scanned by emergency responders via RFID.
• A private key obtained by scanning a patient’s biometric signature.

Both public and private keys are mandatory to access the patient’s record. The private key would be specific to each individual user.

The spokesperson from Walmart said, “If medical records were stored on the blockchain, the private key of the patient would be needed to view/modify the records. In the case where a user is unconscious or incapacitated in an emergency, a first responder could not access the user's medical records stored on the blockchain; thus, there is a need for a method and system for obtaining a medical record stored on the blockchain when the owner of the private key cannot readily provide the private key.”

For smooth functioning, an RFID scanner is needed to scan the wearable and obtain the public key. Also, a biometric scanning device is needed to verify a bodily feature of the patient (a fingerprint, an iris, a retina, or any facial feature) for accessing the private key. This method would allow the first responders to quickly access the complete health record of the patient. This also ensures that the EHR can be kept inaccessible to others.