Chapter One - Blockchain Technology Use Cases in Healthcare

Abstract Blockchain technology alleviates the reliance on a centralized authority to certify information integrity and ownership, as well as mediate transactions and exchange of digital assets, while enabling secure and pseudoanonymous transactions along with agreements directly between interacting parties. It possesses key properties, such as immutability, decentralization, and transparency, which potentially address pressing issues in healthcare, such as incomplete records at point of care and difficult access to patients’ own health information. An efficient and effective healthcare system requires interoperability, which allows software apps and technology platforms to communicate securely and seamlessly, exchange data, and use the exchanged data across health organizations and app vendors. Unfortunately, healthcare today suffers from siloed and fragmented data, delayed communications, and disparate workflow tools caused by the lack of interoperability. Blockchain offers the opportunity to enable access to longitudinal, complete, and tamper-aware medical records that are stored in fragmented systems in a secure and pseudoanonymous fashion. This chapter focuses on the applicability of Blockchain technology in healthcare by (1) identifying potential Blockchain use cases in healthcare, (2) providing a case study that implements Blockchain technology, and (3) evaluating design considerations when applying this technology in healthcare.