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. 2023 Jan 5;11(2):170.
doi: 10.3390/healthcare11020170.

Sharing Health Information Using a Blockchain

Luis B Elvas  1 , Carlos Serrão  1 , Joao C Ferreira  1   2
Affiliations

Sharing Health Information Using a Blockchain

Luis B Elvas et al. Healthcare (Basel). .

Abstract

Data sharing in the health sector represents a big problem due to privacy and security issues. Health data have tremendous value for organisations and criminals. The European Commission has classified health data as a unique resource owing to their ability to enable both retrospective and prospective research at a low cost. Similarly, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) encourages member nations to create and implement health data governance systems that protect individual privacy while allowing data sharing. This paper proposes adopting a blockchain framework to enable the transparent sharing of medical information among health entities in a secure environment. We develop a laboratory-based prototype using a design science research methodology (DSRM). This approach has its roots in the sciences of engineering and artificial intelligence, and its primary goal is to create relevant artefacts that add value to the fields in which they are used. We adopt a patient-centric approach, according to which a patient is the owner of their data and may allow hospitals and health professionals access to their data.

Keywords: artificial intelligence; blockchain; encryption; information sharing; medical registry; security; smart contract.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 4
Figure 4
DAML code of the smart contract.
Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA process used in the literature review process.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Publications identified based on main topics.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Information flow where patient data are stored on a private blockchain and patients allow access to their data.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Information flow chart.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Application print screen for case 1 (left image) and case 2 (right image).
Figure 7
Figure 7
Application print screen.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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