13. For Chrissa McFarlane, Securing Health Records Pays Off for Everyone

15 Fiercest Sisters of 2017

Chrissa McFarlane, founder and CEO of Patientory

Trading med school for business school paid off for Chrissa McFarlane, who combined her interests in both areas. She created the Patientory app to improve universal health records and make them more secure, using the same encryption technology as Bitcoin.

Around Memorial Day, she rounded up nearly 2,000 digital investors, exceeding her goal by raising $7.2 million through blockchain token sales in just three days. She had secured two-thirds of her investors during a month-long pre-sale in May.

As the name indicates, Patientory is patient-centered, McFarlane says. Her goal is to improve patient care and coordination by breaking down the silos in the health-care system. The platform is designed for patients to access their records securely and share them with their health team.

People can use the free app to keep track of their doctor’s visits and medical history, including tests, medications, immunizations and insurance details. If they need more space, they can use cryptocurrency to buy additional storage.

“Patientory is disrupting an antiquated health-care model by empowering patients globally to take an active role in their health-care delivery by giving them access to their information regardless of what system their provider uses,” McFarlane explained. “Using blockchain technology — the most secure method of information storage and transfer — my team and I are creating the new phase of personalized health-care delivery.”

With Patientory, she said, health-care providers can avoid the data breaches that have impacted other electronic medical record systems.

At just 27, McFarlane is already a pioneer in health-care cybersecurity. She developed her entrepreneurial genes from her parents. Born in Jamaica, she helped out in a family-owned restaurant as a teenager in New York.

To these skills, she added degrees from Cornell and Wake Forest with health-care industry experience and research as her foundation for launching Patientory.

“It’s a real game changer for health-care organizations, doctors and patients.” — Yanick Rice Lamb