Blockchain for healthcare records: A data perspective

Abstract

A problem facing healthcare record systems throughout the world is how to share the medical data with more stakeholders for various purposes without sacrificing data privacy and integrity. Blockchain, operating in a state of consensus, is the underpinning technology that maintains the Bitcoin transaction ledger. Blockchain as a promising technology to manage the transactions has been gaining popularity in the domain of healthcare. Blockchain technology has the potential of securely, privately, and comprehensively manage patient health records. In this work, we discuss the latest status of blockchain technology and how it could solve the current issues in healthcare systems. We evaluate the blockchain technology from the multiple perspectives around healthcare data, including privacy, security, control, and storage. We review the current projects and researches of blockchain in the domain of healthcare records and provide the insight into the design and construction of next generations of blockchain-based healthcare systems.