HIMMS19 Conference – Blockchain Symposium Recap

By James Gatto and John Booher on February 13, 2019 Posted in Healthcare

The first day of the HIMSS19 conference featured a day long blockchain symposium focusing on “How Blockchain Technology Brings Value to Healthcare.” The room was packed.

The morning presentations included an overview of blockchain and distributed ledger technology, including the strengths and limitations of this emerging technology as applied to healthcare. David Houlding, Principal Healthcare Lead for Microsoft Corporation sorted through the reality and the hype. On the strengths, he highlighted the data integrity, transparency, decentralization, resilience, and anti-fraud aspects of the technology. In the short term, he indicated that applications where blockchain can reduce costs (e.g., provider directories, provider credentialing, and drug supply chains) will be first adopted, followed by the more complex applications that improve patient outcomes, engage patients and enhance their experiences, and finally those that enhance healthcare professional experiences. He stressed that one of the most difficult challenges is building the consortium trust among the relevant network of healthcare organizations. He also noted that blockchain will not replace, but rather co-exist with enterprise systems, where it makes business sense. Continue Reading

HIMSS19 Kicks-Off Addressing Leading Topics in Healthcare Information Technology

By John Booher, James Gatto, Michael Orlando and Abby Meyer on February 13, 2019 Posted in Healthcare

Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) kicked-off its annual global conference this week in Orlando, Florida, addressing leading topics in healthcare information technology. Over 45,000 healthcare and information technology professionals and 1,300+ vendors are expected to attend the week long event. Continue Reading

How Blockchain Technology Brings Value to Healthcare

By James Gatto on February 8, 2019 Posted in Blockchain, Healthcare

Blockchain applications for healthcare have garnered significant attention recently. For example, as we recently blogged, five major healthcare companies – Humana, MultiPlan, Optum, Quest Diagnostics, and UnitedHealthcare – formed the Synaptic Health Alliance (the “Alliance”) to explore how blockchain technology could resolve current healthcare issues. Continue Reading

The Synaptic Health Alliance: A Look at how Blockchain Technology Could Improve Provider Data Quality

By John Tilton, James Gatto and Samuel Gilkeson on February 1, 2019 Posted in Blockchain, Healthcare

In 2018, five major healthcare companies – Humana, MultiPlan, Optum, Quest Diagnostics, and UnitedHealthcare – formed the Synaptic Health Alliance (the “Alliance”) to explore how blockchain technology could resolve current healthcare issues. The Alliance launched its first pilot program in April 2018 to focus on specific ways that “blockchain technology can help ensure the most current information about healthcare providers is available in the provider directories maintained by health insurers.”^[1] Aetna and Ascension joined the Alliance in December 2018, thus adding additional resources and unique perspectives to the effort of streamlining provider data management.^[2] Continue Reading

Comment Deadline Extended: Export Controls on Emerging Technologies

By J. Scott Maberry, Reid Whitten, Curtis Dombek, A. Joseph Jay, III, Fatema Merchant, Lisa Mays and Enumale Agada on December 13, 2018 Posted in Uncategorized

*This is an updated version of the Global Trade Law Blog’s December 10th post .

Key Takeaways:

Emerging technology sectors are being reviewed now for new export controls that could take effect in 2019 (list below).
You may submit comments on the criteria the U.S. government will use to determine what technologies are subject to export controls.
The deadline for comments has been extended to January 10, 2019.
We can help.

Security Tokens — A Superior Platform for Securities Holding and Trading

By James Mercer and James Thompson on November 30, 2018 Posted in Blockchain, CryptoAssets, Cryptocurrency, SEC

The use of digital securities or security tokens has coincided with the explosion of crypto-currencies and efforts to establish Internet-traded coins or tokens with utility as a form of currency. Lost amidst the enthusiasm over the revolutionary implications of crypto-currencies is the simple fact that security tokens which use block-chain technology and smart contracts have significant advantages over traditional platforms for issuing, holding and trading securities. Continue Reading

Smart Contract Developers – Beware and Lawyer Up!

By James Gatto on November 27, 2018 Posted in Blockchain

Smart contracts, also referred to as chaincode in the Hyperledger world, are one of the most powerful aspects of blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). This “self-executing” code can receive various inputs and, based on “if-then” logic encoded therein, can take various actions and update the ledger state.

Based on recent actions by U.S. regulators, smart contract developers need to be aware of potential liabilities that they may face (beyond the usual issues with software development). Continue Reading

The Hammer Falls on the First Major Blockchain-based Art Auction

By Alexandra Bear on November 14, 2018 Posted in Blockchain

Christie’s made history again last night during its evening sale, An American Place: The Barney A. Ebsworth Collection, at 20 Rockefeller Center in New York. This time, the history was not in the form of a record-setting sale (though the sale brought in $317.8 million), but as the first major art auction to be recorded by distributed ledger technology. Christie’s teamed with Artory, a company that operates an art-focused, blockchain-based registry, to securely register and track the provenance of over 90 artworks that were offered in the sale. Continue Reading

Considering Blockchain In The Electricity Industry

By James Gatto, Mark Sundback, Kenneth Wiseman, Andrew Mina, Mark Patrick and William Rappolt on November 9, 2018 Posted in Blockchain, Regulatory

A version of this article originally appeared on Law360 on November 7, 2018.

Blockchain technology and smart contracts have the potential to become major disrupters in the energy industry. For example, these technologies may accelerate the automation of some or all aspects of the electricity delivery transaction chain and allow for more decentralized, efficient electricity markets. Further, these technologies may allow end users (such as homeowners) to play a more active role in the electricity markets beyond simply relying on their local utility company to supply their electricity demand. Thus, blockchain technology could fundamentally change the way electricity is supplied and consumed in wholesale (i.e., the sale of electricity for resale) and retail (i.e., the sale of electricity to an end user) markets in the coming decade.

As these technologies advance and become more widespread (i) users of such technologies must be cognizant of the various regulatory requirements that could apply to them, (ii) state and federal regulators need to update regulatory practices that are obsolete or impede the use of these technologies in the electricity industry, and (iii) traditional incumbent utilities should consider ways in which they can leverage these technologies.

Crypto Firms Make Inroads with State and Federal Regulators

By Jeff Kern and Christopher Bosch on November 7, 2018 Posted in Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Regulatory

Over the past couple of years, the crypto industry has come under heavy scrutiny from skeptical regulators seeking to root out fraud and protect investors amid the initial coin offering boom that generated over $4 billion in 2017. However, this skepticism is starting to give way to a more business-friendly attitude.

Crypto firms have made notable headway with regulators in recent months, securing authorizations to act as custodians of digital assets and working towards approval of the first bitcoin-based exchange traded fund (“ETF”). These developments may reflect an evolving collaborative environment that bodes well for the future of blockchain-based innovations. Continue Reading