Healthcare Record Management Using Blockchain

Abstract

Background. Blockchain has been in popular demand for the last decade or so, but it recently gained recognition with the popularity of Bitcoin. It has been extensively used in fields like finance, government, energy, etc. It is the need of the hour that the technology was utilized in other relevant areas as well like healthcare. Making maximum use of blockchain in the healthcare industry is expected to have numerous significant impacts and positive outcomes. The technology is defined as a decentralized and distributed ledger that can be used to record transactions securely across many computers in a peer-to-peer network, without the need for a third party. Objectives. A block consists essentially of a header and a body. The header of each block contains the hash of the previous block. Among the important features of blockchain is how it is impossible to tamper with and is censorship resistant, giving access to the timestamped transaction while maintaining anonymity at the same time. Methods. The method used is literature survey. We perform a study selection process in four steps. After each steps the number of publications is reduced as unwanted publications are omitted using search strings, inclusion and exclusion criteria. We even conducted a study quality assessment which helps us analysis the quality of findings from the final set of selected papers in answering the research questions. Results. We have summarized the findings from the 10 selected papers from the study selection process according to the research questions. Conclusions. The most prominent feature of blockchain technology is the fact that it removes the need for a centralized third party and makes it possible for two parties to carry out transactions without a centralized authority. It highly improves the transaction speed by removing any type of delay and makes the transaction cheaper as well. This project intends to explore how decentralization makes it easier to maintain transparent and open records for patients to see how, when, and where their information is being used. By employing the programming language Solidity, a smart contract will be created which will be deployed on the Ethereum blockchain. This in turn will further ensure that no recorded data can be deleted. Any data recorded by the doctor in the blockchain can be edited whereas the patients will only have viewing access to the entered medical records. This will not only ensure a high level of security, but also the credibility of the information provided.