US Medical Board Group Launches Blockchain Certification Pilot

A national non-profit group for state medical boards is launching a new blockchain pilot focused on digital certifications.

The Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) announced today that it would be the latest organization to test the use of Blockcerts, an open-source standard built on top of bitcoin that developed by Learning Machine Technologies and the MIT Media Lab. The non-profit used the tech to create digital records for both undergraduate and graduate medical certification credentials.

Though most of the groups to date to try out the standard have been academic institutions, the FSMB's pilot represents a notable use case in the medical field. The FSMB dates back to the early 20th century and counts the 70 state medical and osteopathic regulatory boards within the U.S.

Materials published online suggest that the pilot began last month, though it's unclear at this time whether the FSMB will consider any applications of the tech beyond the scope of the pilot.

"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," Michael Dugan, the FMSB's chief information officer, said in a statement.

Doctor image via Shutterstock