Blockchain technology, which serves as the basis of Bitcoin virtual currency, is turning out to have applications in other fields.

The U.S.Food and Drug Administration says its information-management abilities may turn out to be as useful in medical record-keeping as it is in finance.

The agency has commissioned IBM to partner with it to see if the technology can be useful.

Researchers from IBM and the FDA will work together in a two-year project to explore how a blockchain system could store electronic healthcare records securely, privately, and reliably.

Experts say this may be the first large-scale exploration of how blockchain technology could be used widely in the medical sector.

The blockchain data model has several characteristics that could be useful in medical recordkeeping, including security.

Blockchain systems store records in time order based on their creation date.Every new bit of data contains a code that is generated based on the contents of the previous entry.

The codes serve as links connecting every block to its predecessor in a long chain.

The chain can be reconstructed into an activity log detailing every transaction.

Data integrity is another feature of the system.Modifying a block of data creates an inconsistency with the links up and down the chain.

It is, therefore, impossible, as a practical matter, for the chain to include forged data.

The value of this feature seems obvious in the field of medical record-keeping.

The technology also provides a fast way for care providers to share information with other doctors, with insurance companies, and with other appropriate partners.

The result, IBM and FDA sources say, should be better treatment and healthier lives for patients.