Lipscomb co-creates blockchain certificate with UCSD Extension
Lipscomb builds on its pioneering efforts to apply blockchain technology to the health care industry by collaborating with University of California-San Diego Extension.
Janel Shoun-Smith |
This year, Lipscomb is building on its pioneering efforts to apply blockchain technology to the health care industry by collaborating with University of California-San Diego Extension and the UC-San Diego School of Medicine to develop a five-course certificate in blockchain applications.
“Blockchain Applications for Healthcare” is an online certificate program that can be taken by any qualified applicant, whether enrolled or not at Lipscomb, UCSD or any university. It takes 12 to 18 months to complete.
The course is geared toward developing professionals and technologists currently working in health care, individuals with a background or interest in eHealth, IT administration or engineering, or anyone interested in learning entrepreneurial and frontier technology knowledge and skills.
Blockchain is a distributed ledger database technology that has proven particularly secure. It is the database technology that underlies Bitcoin.
Lipscomb began working to develop ways to apply the secure database technology to health care in 2015 when it explored its use for enhancing drug supply chain security, and in 2017 Lipscomb became the first educational institution to join the Hashed Health Consortium, a group of organizations led by Nashville-based Hashed Health and devoted to leveraging the technology to transform health care.
Since that time, Lipscomb has: partnered to develop a way to verify academic credentials for health care professionals using the technology; partnered with a Tennessee pharmacist to develop a statewide system to avoid drug waste and repurpose them for patients with financial need; and Lipscomb faculty have been called on as experts in a variety of roles nationwide.
In creating this new Blockchain certificate, Director and Associate Professor Timothy Mackey has spearheaded efforts for UCSD, while Associate Professor Kevin Clauson has served as the lead for Lipscomb. Lipscomb health informatics alumnus Stuart Lackey (’18), CEO and founder of HaloScrips in Tennessee is serving as an adviser for the UCSD Extension course, along with technology officials from Bayer Healthcare, Consensys, San Diego Supercomputer Center and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers.
“Lipscomb co-conceived, co-designed and is providing course content for the courses in this program, so we are a very active partner in creating and executing this work,” said Clauson. “As Nashville and San Diego are both among the top 20 cities in the U.S. for blockchain jobs (according to CryptoFundResearch), our two institutions were able to draw from a deep well of expertise, including Lipscomb alumnus Stuart Lackey.”
“Just this month,” Clauson related, “a LinkedIn study found that blockchain is the top skill for 2020 for employers hiring in the U.S., several countries in the European Union and Australia.”
Expert faculty and industry practitioners will help students identify opportunities to generate new value for both consumers and organizations using blockchain. In a capstone project, students will develop and focus on a project management format to kickstart an actual blockchain health care solution.
The specialized certificate, “Blockchain Applications for Healthcare,” provides a definitive introduction to health blockchain architecture, programming, processes and commercialization strategies.
The courses examine how blockchain technology can better ensure the resilience and provenance, traceability and management of health care data. Learners will leave understanding how blockchain is helping health systems manage pharma and medical device supply chain, patient recruitment for clinical trials, security and interoperability of data.
Learners will also explore the use of blockchain with other types of technology and platforms and how its use can support digital health initiatives.
UCSD Extension provides education and professional training, civic and cultural enrichment and regional economic solutions through continuing education, certificate and degree-related programs; community initiatives; and a wide array of public-service lectures, forums and special events.