Blockchain_technology_for_healthcare_Enhancing_shared_electronic_health_record_interoperability_and_integrity

Blockchain Technology in Healthcare

• Enhancements in shared Electronic Health Record (EHR) interoperability and integrity through a proposed Blockchain framework called BiiMED.

• The main goal is to tackle challenges related to the integrity and interoperability of EHR sharing among various healthcare providers.

Importance of Interoperability

• Interoperability Defined: Capacity of different software applications to communicate and share data effectively and accurately.

• Key Reasons for Importance:

  • Smooth Access to Information: Scattered patient information can lead to medical errors and inefficiencies.

  • Prevention of Manual Errors: Fragmentation of data increases chances of mistakes in patient data integration (18% of medical errors caused by inadequate data).

  • Efficiency Improvement: Reduces paperwork and redundancies, thus enhancing healthcare quality.

  • Cost Reduction: Interoperable systems can eliminate redundant testing and costs, saving billions annually.

Challenges Faced

• Security Issues: Healthcare systems are frequent targets of cyberattacks; breaches have led to significant patient data compromises.

• Large EHR Data Size: Medical data growing at 20-40% annually includes massive unstructured data.

• Heterogeneity in Systems: Varied infrastructures across healthcare information systems hinder effective data sharing.

BiiMED Framework

a. Objectives:

• To enhance data interoperability and integrity among EHR sharing.

b. Components of BiiMED:

1. Access Management System: Allows EHR exchanges among medical providers with controlled access.

2. Decentralized Trusted Third Party Auditor (TTPA): Ensures data integrity through data validation.

Related Work

• Research focuses on security, interoperability, data sharing, and management.

• Several studies show Blockchain’s potential for protecting patient privacy and ensuring secure data sharing.

• Blockchain frameworks compared with traditional data storage methods highlight improvements in privacy and security across EHR systems.

Proposed Solution

• Health Information System (HIS): Manages healthcare data for compiling, storing, and sharing electronic medical records (EMR).

• HIS Architecture:

  • Front-End Layer: Multiple web portals for healthcare providers.

  • Back-End Layer: A cloud solution for data exchange and storage.

BiiMED Architecture

• Built on the Ethereum platform utilizing smart contracts for managing access and data integrity.

• Consists of modules for handling user management, data exchanges, and validation through TTPA.

Nominal Scenario

• The admin portal registers a medical facility to BiiMED enabling EHR sharing.

• Integration of patient data involves hashing and storing records on Blockchain for validation and integrity checks.

Evaluation Metrics

• Focus on Turing-completeness, user identifiability, structural interoperability, scalability, and cost-effectiveness of the BiiMED framework.

Cost and Performance

• Analysis of execution times shows that the majority of operations are cost-effective, minimizing expenses while supporting operations at scale.

Conclusion

• BiiMED provides enhanced interoperability and integrity for EHR sharing, laying groundwork for future research on decentralized healthcare management systems.

• Continuous improvement in data security and patient privacy is a key focus for ongoing developments in health information management.