Docademic: an Attempt at Universalizing Medicine

The Ethereum-based ICO, Docademic, has been making waves lately. Many believe this is a result of John Mcafee’s announcement that he will implement Docademic as his universal health care plan when he runs for president in 2020. Although there are many technological hurdles between now and 2020, Mcafee is endorsing this ICO and viewing it from a long-term time horizon. Mcafee has also had a large influence among emerging ICOs and other speculative coins. He revealed that he charges $105,000 per tweet, and he has historically moved the market profoundly.

Aside from the Mcafee hype, Docademic does have many humanitarian benefits. By downloading the Docademic app, anyone can talk to a doctor for free. Rather than scheduling an in-person appointment, a user can talk to a doctor and report symptoms via FaceTime technologies. Medicine will always require some form of in-person analysis, nevertheless Docademic services are totally free and provide a foundation for universal medical care.

The Docademic project eventually wants to launch their own independent blockchain and become a universal medical data ledger. Over our lifetime, we accumulate a ever-increasing  amount of health care data. Keeping the information on a singular ledger would allow doctors of all kinds to view data harmoniously and provide patients with the best possible care. Docademic is a promising application to health care because doctors have access to collective patient data without compromising the privacy of the patient’s medical information.

In the long-term, Docademic wants to universalize health care by serving populations in the millions. This can be done through the development of advanced AI to diagnose specific conditions. This method will also reduce average call time. Developers and doctors are expecting a much more robust system to be created by 2020.

One of the most anticipated dates for Docademic is July 23rd. This is when they will enable their secondary app for emergency psychological care. Although we have comparable alternatives such as suicide hotlines, Docademic will allow anyone to speak with a clinical professional.

While any user has the right to “basic” services, the token economy involved in Docademic incentivizes patients, doctors, and healthcare providers to share data throughout the system in order to receive tokens. For patients, these tokens can be sold or used to interact with healthcare “specialists” and receive advanced treatments.

Overall, it is promising to see that Docademic is already helping people receive baseline care. However, the application still needs to become more user friendly in order for mass adoption to occur. Storing sensitive information on the blockchain is anonymous, therefore patients must provide doctors with their private key in order for that physician to access the patient’s medical data.

This leads to another issue; How can we assure patients can remember their private keys while not compromising the confidentiality of their data? This is still a general issue with blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies.

Investors and tech enthusiasts want to manage their own private keys, but most people don’t want to have that kind of responsibility. If losing their private key means the permanent loss of their medical data, many will be reluctant to participate in the system. Nevertheless, Docademic is great because it is free and it aids people who would not typically be able to afford a professional care provider.

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Disclaimer: This is not financial advice. Please do your own research and make objective decisions. This article is intended to educate readers about the healthcare services of Docademic. The author of the article owns cryptocurrency, but not Docademic.