Save Lives - Earn Bitcoin with new EMS SignPost Software

Have you ever wanted to be paid - in Bitcoin, to help save lives?

Cincinnati-based EMS SignPost is developing a system that connects EMS personnel to critical, up-to-date medical data. EMS SignPost's parent company, EC Link Inc., has a track record of implementing Bitcoin tech in some its products. They want their new product to compensate those who help keep the system current.

Disclosure: Garrett Keirns, the author of this piece, is employed by EC Link, Inc. as an independent contractor.

The backbone of the system is an NFC embedded magnet. The magnet links to a unique - and encrypted - URL that hosts a person's medical data. The data includes medical history, current medication, and physician and family contact information. Another important feature is the ability to upload Advanced Directive documents such as "Do No Resuscitate" orders and power of attorney paperwork that can be critical to EMS personnel during an emergency. Users can sign over administrative rights to friends and family. This feature is especially important for those who aren't technically savvy.

Currently, the EMS SignPost system is running in a few, limited jurisdictions. However, there are plans for expansion. The target buyers are Fire Departments and municipalities. There is an annual licensing fee to cover hosting and development. The fee increases linearly based on the population of the area served. And, of course, this fee can be paid in Bitcoin as well as fiat. 

The developers plan to add a bounty program that rewards contributors – in Bitcoin – to keep medical information current. The exact amount of money paid out is unclear. A proprietary algorithm is being developed to identify the most high-risk people in the system. The higher the risk – the higher the payout. The Bitcoin bounties give participants (or his/her family and friends) an incentive to maintain the system. The EMS SignPost developers expect hospital, insurance companies, and local governments to help finance this bounty program. New United States Medicare laws penalize hospitals for repeated Emergency Room visits. The new rules create an incentive to treat and diagnose problems correctly the first time.

The Bitcoin blockchain will also provide reliable time stamping to verify the integrity of documents uploaded in the EMS SignPost system. Applications like Proof of Existence demonstrate how information embeds itself into the global decentralized Bitcoin ledger. A cryptographic hash of the document latches on the blockchain. The cryptographic alphanumerical string can only be reproduced with the presence of the original file.

EMS personnel are being trained to take on a greater role in the field. This trend is especially true in rural and impoverished areas. Community Paramedicine, as it is called in North America, is the concept of equipping EMS crews with the correct tools – technological and legal – to carry out this new role.

The company plans to offer more than just refrigerator magnets for citizens using their program. They are also pioneering the use of NFC-embedded bracelets and wallet cards. To maintain HIPAA compliance in the United States, EMS SignPost developers take security seriously. Only authorized personnel can view and edit patient information. Two-factor authentication programs, already popular in the Bitcoin community, will protect accounts from unauthorized logins.

What do you think of Blockchain based EMS info and NFC capability?

Image Source: EMS Signpost

Using the Blockchain for the Digitization of Business Practices

In the past decade, modern day business has focused on the digitization of data, payments, and business practices. The result has been reduced cost of operation, increased speed of information, payments, and communications, and an overall increase in efficiency. Businesses that optimize the amount of processes and information that can be digitized reduce costs and increase the efficiency of the entire firm.

Think about it like this. If a business were to use digital technology to send a memo around a large office electronically rather than deliver paper copies to each employee, that business would be able to save the time needed to distribute a hard copy of the memo around the office (which could be used to do something else productive) they would save the money for the paper and ink, and everyone in the office would have instant access to that information.

Similarly to office memos, each time a company chooses to send an invoice to a customer, they save on paper and ink, as well as the postage cost when they choose to send the invoice electronically rather than physically. Email technology significantly reduced operating costs for businesses and increased the speed and efficiency of business communications.

Blockchain technology has the ability to significantly increase the speed in which digital payments are done as well as significantly reduce the costs. For large payments and invoicing, most companies turn to payment processing options that take care of customer payments, but the fees and speeds of those transactions can be improved.

Many large businesses have ignored implementing Bitcoin payments, but as we have seen over the past few months, many firms are taking up Blockchain technology and leaving Bitcoin behind. Blockchain technology offers significant speed improvements over Automated Clearing House (ACH) money transfers. PayPal offers instant payments, but it still takes 3-5 days to deposit a PayPal Balance into your bank account.

By digitizing payment solutions and implementing peer to peer networks of payment systems, businesses can implement faster and cheaper payments and order processing solutions without the use of Bitcoin itself. Accepting Bitcoin does not have very many drawbacks in general as Bitcoin payment processing companies offer very cheap payment processing and instant conversions to fiat to avoid the Bitcoin market fluctuations that previously scared off businesses.

Just as digitization significantly improved communications within business, the speed and cost of payments will likely decrease over time as peer to peer network technology is continually implemented.

What do you think about the digitization of Business payments? Do you think Bitcoin itself or just Blockchain technology will drive this shift? Let us know in the comments below!