The U.S. Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) has launched a blockchain pilot program, becoming the first professional membership organization to issue official documents to the blockchain.
The Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) is testing the blockchain certificates open standard Blockcerts, in partnership with the Learning Machine blockchain records issuing system.
Currently, the verification of undergraduate and graduate medical education credentials in the United States relies on organizations such as FSMB. Issuing degrees and verification forms to the blockchain would allow practitioners to maintain control of their records, while also ensuring fraud protection.
“The FSMB is dedicated to supporting the work of its member state medical boards in their efforts to ensure that only qualified and capable physicians practice medicine,” said Michael Dugan, Chief Information Officer at the FSMB.
“Verification of medical education and related credentials is a critically important endeavor, and we are hopeful that the continued success of this pilot may provide the level of certainty needed to implement blockchain technologies in the medical licensing and credentialing process,” Dugan added.
The digital certifications medical blockchain pilot uses the “Blockcerts” certificates open standard.
“Blockcerts was built to serve as a foundation for recipient ownership of digital assets,” said Natalie Smolenski, VP of Business Development for Learning Machine. “That is the great promise of blockchain technology: now individuals can own their digital property without reliance upon trusted intermediaries to serve as custodians of that property. However, many blockchain-based applications still put vendors at the center, diluting that promise. Learning Machine is building a social infrastructure that will outlast any company or issuing institution. We are building for the long-term future.”
Founded in 1912, the Federation of State Medical Boards is a non-profit organization that represents the 70 state medical and osteopathic regulatory boards – commonly referred to as state medical boards – within the United States. The organization co-sponsors the United States Medical Licensing Examination.
Medical blockchain pilot program – Image source: portal gda/Flickr