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. 2021 Apr 19;21(8):2865.
doi: 10.3390/s21082865.

BSF-EHR: Blockchain Security Framework for Electronic Health Records of Patients

Ibrahim Abunadi  1 , Ramasamy Lakshmana Kumar  2
Affiliations

BSF-EHR: Blockchain Security Framework for Electronic Health Records of Patients

Ibrahim Abunadi et al. Sensors (Basel). .

Abstract

In the current epoch of smart homes and cities, personal data such as patients' names, diseases and addresses are often violated. This is frequently associated with the safety of the electronic health records (EHRs) of patients. EHRs have numerous benefits worldwide, but at present, EHR information is subject to considerable security and privacy issues. This paper proposes a way to provide a secure solution to these issues. Previous sophisticated techniques dealing with the protection of EHRs usually make data inaccessible to patients. These techniques struggle to balance data confidentiality, patient demand and constant interaction with provider data. Blockchain technology solves the above problems since it distributes information in a transactional and decentralized manner. The usage of blockchain technology could help the health sector to balance the accessibility and privacy of EHRs. This paper proposes a blockchain security framework (BSF) to effectively and securely store and keep EHRs. It presents a safe and proficient means of acquiring medical information for doctors, patients and insurance agents while protecting the patient's data. This work aims to examine how our proposed framework meets the security needs of doctors, patients and third parties and how the structure addresses safety and confidentiality concerns in the healthcare sector. Simulation outcomes show that this framework efficiently protects EHR data.

Keywords: EHR; blockchain; confidentiality and storage; security.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Novelty of BSF-EHR system.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Patient Pat1 blockchain.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Doctor Doc1 blockchain.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Insurance Agent IS1 blockchain.
Figure 5
Figure 5
EHRs as a result of unauthorized access vs. authorized access.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Time consumption comparison based on centralized storage vs. BSF-EHR.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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