A grant of $225,000 is given to this New England-based blockchain company named SimplyVital Health, Inc. from the United States National Science Foundation (NSF) to research integration of its protocol Nexus with the Graphene protocol.

This grant was being given as part of NSF’s Small Business Programs, which is known for making a contribution of $200 million on a yearly basis to innovative and futuristic startups and small businesses. 

SimplyVital will primarily be assigning the grant to research and development into integration of the Graphene protocol into its blockchain protocol, Nexus, which touts compatibility with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. 

The structure and whole design of the Graphene protocol aims to reduce bandwidth to distribute blocks to other nodes which helps in enhancing the performance of blockchain and also helps with cost reduction, all at once. 

The main objective behind this is to help with decreasing healthcare costs by enabling data access through blockchain technology.

Andrea Belz, division director of the division of industrial innovation and partnerships at NSF, on this technological development, presented her views:

“NSF is proud to support the technology of the future by funding the most creative, impactful ideas. With our support, deep technology startups can guide basic science into meaningful solutions that address tremendous needs.”

The value of blockchain technology in the healthcare market might go beyond $1.6 billion by 2025. This could be as the result of various factors which include implementation of government initiatives and increasing investment in the field. 

The healthcare sector has been having the blockchain transformation quite a lot recently. Not long ago, this blockchain startup, MediConnect completed a workflow for a Proof-of-Concept developed to help track medications through the supply chain. They are working towards integrating online pharmacy UK Meds’ processes into its platform. 

This, as the startup claims, will enable tracking and managing of prescription medication via the supply chain.