By Riley Kaminer
From insurance claims that take weeks to process to billing disputes that leave both providers and patients frustrated, the U.S. healthcare system is notorious for its complexity.
But what if the entire process could be streamlined, secured, and executed in real-time? That’s the question West Palm Beach-based Solum Global is answering with its blockchain-powered payment system.
Founder Kirk St Johns has been in the crypto space for over a decade, watching both its rapid growth and its more challenging moments. Now, he sees an opportunity to apply blockchain technology to healthcare – a space that desperately needs innovation.
“We’re going from the internet to the blockchain,” he told Refresh Miami. “Solum is right at the forefront of making that happen.”
At its core, Solum Global aims to speed up and simplify healthcare payments by putting the entire process on-chain. Traditionally, when a doctor submits a claim, it goes through multiple steps – electronic health records, insurance providers, and payment processors – before reaching a resolution. This process can take weeks or even months.
But by using blockchain and smart contracts, Solum enables real-time adjudication of claims, cutting down delays significantly. “Physicians can document in the electronic health wallet what they’re doing and have that information match directly with the payer,” St Johns explained. “That means payments can be processed at the point of service.”
The key to this efficiency is blockchain’s immutable ledger, which ensures transparency and security in transactions. Medical billing errors, redundant paperwork, and disputes over insurance claims can be reduced when the process is automated through smart contracts.
Additionally, tokenizing healthcare policies allows for greater precision in matching services to insurance coverage. “By bringing payer policies into a smart contract through the tokenization process, it ensures that claims are validated instantly,” St Johns said.
Of course, any conversation about blockchain in healthcare must address compliance. The industry is heavily regulated, with strict rules like HIPAA protecting patient privacy. Solum is integrating blockchain’s cryptographic safeguards to ensure that data remains secure.
“What’s being done to you and who you are all have to be protected in the same way they would be in Web2,” St Johns said. “The patient, the physician, and the payer interact through public keys, but the private keys remain secure, ensuring access is controlled.”
Solum’s CEO, Geary Stonesifer, believes the company’s approach will first gain traction among healthcare providers, who will appreciate the efficiency gains in revenue cycle management. “We’re offering a fast-pay option that doesn’t exist in the market right now,” he said. “Once providers see the benefit, the next step will be engaging insurance companies, who will eventually realize the cost savings they can achieve through smart contracts.”
Stonesifer and St Johns are betting that providers will continue to look for more efficient payment solutions. “We’re not naive; we know we’re not the only ones thinking about solving these problems,” Stonesifer said. “But being a first mover with a strong value proposition puts us in a great position to gain market share.” He even hinted at the possibility of taking the company public in the next few years to accelerate growth.
So why start this company in South Florida? “It’s not just the energy and the vibe – it’s the fact that we’re near people who influence healthcare policy,” Stonesifer noted, highlighting the publc policy bubble emerging around winter White House Mar-a-Lago. “With the government paying close attention to healthcare inefficiencies, we have a real opportunity to be part of the conversation.”
St Johns sees this as just the beginning. “Solum means foundation,” he said. “We’re building a foundation that allows multiple use cases, particularly for stablecoins, to thrive. This is just the start of what’s possible.”
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