Analysis of Blockchain Integration in the e-Healthcare Ecosystem
Abdellah Ouaguid, Mohamed Hanine, Zouhair Chiba, Noreddine Abghour, Hassan Ghazal
TL;DR
The paper addresses the challenge of securely and interoperably managing EHR data in e-health by evaluating four blockchain-based approaches (IoT-EHR BC, MedBloc, BCES, NAIBHSC). It analyzes their architectures, storage strategies, governance features, and ability to ensure traceability, confidentiality, and access control, highlighting the unique benefits and limitations of each. Key findings include BCES providing explicit manipulation-traceability via a Proof-Chain mechanism and NAIBHSC integrating IoT for an enhanced healthcare supply chain, while all approaches exhibit limited representation of core actors as blockchain nodes and lack an official regulatory authority within the network. The study emphasizes the need for regulatory collaboration, governance structures, and regulatory flexibility to achieve ethical, legal, and interoperable blockchain-enabled e-health systems with robust data protection and cross-jurisdictional compatibility.
Abstract
No one can dispute the disruptive impact of blockchain technology, which has long been considered one of the major revolutions of contemporary times. Its integration into the healthcare ecosystem has helped overcome numerous difficulties and constraints faced by healthcare systems. This has been notably demonstrated in the meticulous management of electronic health records (EHR) and their access rights, as well as in its capabilities in terms of security, scalability, flexibility, and interoperability with other systems. This article undertakes the study and analysis of the most commonly adopted approaches in healthcare data management systems using blockchain technology. An evaluation is then conducted based on a set of observed common characteristics, distinguishing one approach from the others. The results of this analysis highlight the advantages and limitations of each approach, thus facilitating the choice of the method best suited to the readers' specific case study. Furthermore, for effective implementation in the context of e-health, we emphasize the existence of crucial challenges, such as the incomplete representation of major stakeholders in the blockchain network, the lack of regulatory flexibility to ensure legal interoperability by country, and the insufficient integration of an official regulatory authority ensuring compliance with ethical and legal standards. To address these challenges, it is necessary to establish close collaboration between regulators, technology developers, and healthcare stakeholders.