Platform Found Reliable, Comprehensive for Medical Records Access, Management

HealthChain is a novel patient-centered blockchain that gives patients and providers access to consistent and comprehensive medical records, according to a study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.

“In this study, a proof-of-concept patient-centered blockchain—HealthChain—was presented,” wrote Ray Hylock, Department of Health Services and Information Management, College of Allied Health Science, East Carolina University in Greenville, NC and coauthor. “The posited framework promotes patient engagement and facilitates secure, mediated information exchange between patients and providers.”

HealthChain includes a detailed framework and open-source proof-of-concept tool. The framework was formed to address key barriers to blockchain adoption in health care, which include information security, interoperability, data integrity, identity validation, and scalability.

HealthChain offers several configurable modes for storing data. The ASIN mode, which uses advanced encryption standard-encrypted data, static encryption key, incremental storage, and no server-side encryption, is the fastest and requires the least bandwidth. On the other hand, the PDIY mode, which uses proxy re-encryption-encrypted data, dynamic encryption key, incremental storage, and server-side encryption, is the most secure. However, the configuration choice ultimately depends on the implementers and their preferred balance between speed and security.

“By integrating a structured, interoperable design with patient-accumulated and generated data shared through smart contracts into a universally accessible blockchain, HealthChain presents patients and providers with access to consistent and comprehensive medical records,” wrote the study authors.

Reference:

Hylock RH, Zeng X. A Blockchain Framework for Patient-Centered Health Records and Exchange (HealthChain): Evaluation and Proof-of-Concept Study. J Med Internet Res. 2019;21(8):e13592. doi:10.2196/13592