U.S. Patent 10942956 was awarded to INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION on March 09, 2021 and is entitled “Detecting medical fraud and medical misuse using a shared virtual ledger.” The first named inventor is Liam S. Harpur of Dublin, . The abstract contains an overview of the patent disclosure:

A system and method of detecting medical fraud using blockchains including receiving a prescription comprising first prescription data from a prescription entry device associated with an prescribing entity, generating a validation code for the prescription based on the first prescription data, adding the validation code to the first prescription data, appending the first prescription data including the validation code to a blockchain, and receiving a query associated with the prescription from a prescription verification device associated with a prescription dispensing entity. The query includes second prescription data. The method further includes comparing the first prescription data to the second prescription data, for example, using pixel comparison, determining based on the comparison that the prescription has been modified, and transmitting to the prescription verification device an indication that the prescription has been modified. Link to Full Patent

This blockchain patent was originally filed on October 27, 2016  as U.S. Patent Application 15/336157 at the United Stated Patent and Trademark Office. The application was them awarded a patent grant and published as U.S. Patent 10942956. The primary examiner was Michael Tomaszewski.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION, who is the original assignee of this patent, has at least 150818 total granted patents in the United States as of the date of this article. This blockchain patent has been cited 0 times by other U.S. patents according to our law firm research, and can be considered an innovative patent in the field of cryptocurrency and blockchain.

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