In blockchain move, Change Healthcare acquires assets of PokitDok

Change Healthcare has increased its bet on blockchain technology, announcing the acquisition of technologies of PokitDok.

The deal, announced Tuesday morning, includes the “intellectual property and other key assets” from PokitDok, a platform-as-a-service company that is considered one of the first to apply blockchain technology within healthcare.

Details of the acquisition price were not disclosed.

By taking on the software, IP and the PokitDok team, Change Healthcare executives say the move will further extend the capabilities and technology of the Change Healthcare Intelligent Healthcare Network for payers, providers and independent software vendors.

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The integration of key PokitDok APIs into the network will add new capabilities for digital health, telemedicine and other new, disruptive care models that support value-based, patient-centric healthcare, the executives add.

"This acquisition is about practical innovation to create a more connected, transparent and efficient healthcare system where patients control their own information," said Kris Joshi, executive vice president and president of network solutions for Change. "As the leader in blockchain for healthcare and with one of the most extensive open API marketplaces available, with PokitDok we are bringing together synergistic assets and technical expertise for delivering additional capabilities to our customers and accelerated value to digital health markets."



In 2017, Change deployed blockchain at enterprise scale, addressing the administrative claims management transparency process. More recently, the company announced an agreement with TIBCO to develop the first blockchain "smart contract" system for healthcare.

Now, Change Healthcare will leverage PokitDok's blockchain use cases as well as DokChain technology, expertise, and toolsets to provide even more advanced blockchain capabilities in the Change Healthcare Intelligent Healthcare Network. Doing so will improve data integrity, auditability, and efficiency for healthcare transactions and processes.

Change is 70 percent owned by McKesson, in a deal that goes back to 2016, when Change incorporated the majority of McKesson’s information technology unit.