Overview of Blockchain

Technology Applications in
Health Care

1st
Cardiovascular Perspective :
Blockchain Technology
Applications in Health Care
This paper explores the growing interest in blockchain
technology, particularly in the healthcare sector, where it
offers potential to enhance data security, transparency, and
efficiency without relying on a central authority. Blockchain
applications in healthcare, such as electronic health record
(EHR) management and claims processing, can streamline
operations and improve data authenticity. However,
significant barriers exist, including privacy concerns,
regulatory challenges, and technical limitations related to
data storage and scalability. The paper reviews notable
blockchain projects like Guardtime and MedRec, which
secure patient identities and facilitate data sharing, while
highlighting ongoing efforts to overcome interoperability and
privacy issues. Technical limitations, such as slow transaction
speeds and scalability concerns, present additional
challenges to widespread adoption. Despite these hurdles,
the paper concludes that blockchain has the potential to
transform healthcare processes but requires further research
and development to address its technical and financial
feasibility before large-scale implementation.

nd
2
Blockchain for Healthcare
Management Systems: A
Survey on Interoperability and
Security
This paper addresses the critical role of blockchain (BC)
technology in advancing healthcare, particularly in enhancing
data security, interoperability, and accessibility. The paper
highlights the challenges posed by isolated health
information systems, which can lead to diagnostic errors and
cybersecurity risks. It identifies the difficulty of balancing
interoperability and security within healthcare architecture,
proposing a Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) framework to
address these issues. The integration of blockchain with
cloud and edge computing is explored, emphasizing
improved data management, reduced latency, and enhanced
user experience in healthcare. Legal challenges, such as data
privacy under the General Data Protection Regulation
(GDPR), are also discussed, with a focus on fine-grained
access control for mitigating risks. Through a systematic
literature review (SLR), the paper identifies architectural
mechanisms used in BC healthcare applications and proposes
security and interoperability tactics for addressing
challenges. The findings highlight blockchain's potential to
securely manage Electronic Health Records (EHR) and foster
accountability in data exchanges. The paper concludes with
suggestions for future research, including the development
of metamodels for smart contracts and further evaluation of
the proposed MDE framework in real-world healthcare
scenarios.

3rd
Exploring applications of
blockchain in healthcare: road
map and future directions
This paper explores the role of blockchain (BC) technology in
enhancing the quality and accessibility of healthcare services,
particularly in addressing the challenges of interoperability
and security in Health Management Systems (HMS). The
paper identifies the difficulties in balancing these two critical
aspects and highlights the absence of off-the-shelf solutions,
alongside potential security risks and challenges in smart
contract execution environments. A Model-Driven
Engineering (MDE) framework is proposed to improve
blockchain interoperability and security, and various tactics
are presented to balance these concerns within the
healthcare ecosystem. Through a systematic literature review
(SLR), the paper analyzes 23 relevant works, classifying
contributions related to blockchain, healthcare, security, and
interoperability. The integration of cloud and edge
computing with blockchain is discussed as a means to
enhance data management and reduce latency. Legal
aspects, including data privacy under the General Data
Protection Regulation (GDPR), are addressed, focusing on
fine-grained access control to mitigate confidentiality risks.
The paper synthesizes the findings, discussing security and
interoperability tactics in blockchain healthcare systems and
concluding with directions for future research, including
developing metamodels for smart contracts and evaluating
the proposed MDE framework in real-world scenarios.

4th
Blockchain in Health Care:
Hope or Hype?
This paper examines the potential of blockchain technology
to revolutionize healthcare by enhancing patient-centric
information systems, secure data sharing, and privacy.
Despite blockchain's promise in improving healthcare
systems, most use cases remain unimplemented, highlighting
a gap between theory and practice. The paper provides an
overview of blockchain's decentralized, immutable ledger,
discussing its public and private forms and the challenges
associated with security, energy consumption, and feasibility.
It explores the balance between innovation and the need for
strict data privacy in healthcare, proposing blockchain as a
solution to address data breaches and regulatory compliance,
such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
However, issues like interoperability, privacy, and financial
costs hinder its widespread adoption. The paper highlights
both the potential and limitations of blockchain, particularly
the trade-offs between its immutability and the need for
regulatory compliance. The security of private blockchains,
while offering controlled data access, raises concerns about
vulnerabilities and the centralization of validation. The
discussion emphasizes that blockchain in healthcare is still in
its infancy, with many applications in the proof-of-concept
stage. Future research should focus on developing practical,
context-specific use cases to harness blockchain’s benefits
while addressing its challenges. The paper concludes that
blockchain's applicability in managing sensitive healthcare
data remains uncertain, and further research is necessary to
explore feasible implementations and navigate the
complexities of regulatory and technological constraints.
5th
Blockchain For Health Data
and Its Potential Use in Health
IT and Health Care Related
Research
This paper explores the integration of advancements in
genetic research and blockchain technology to address the
limitations of current electronic medical records (EMRs) in
terms of data interoperability and security. It proposes a
blockchain-based access-control manager to enhance secure
data sharing among healthcare stakeholders and support
initiatives like the Patient Centered Outcomes Research
(PCOR) and Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI). The paper
explains how blockchain’s decentralized architecture ensures
data integrity and reliability through a distributed network,
where consensus among peers validates transactions stored
in an immutable shared ledger. While public blockchains, like
Bitcoin, are unsuitable for healthcare due to privacy and
scalability concerns, private blockchains offer a potential
alternative, though they may risk vendor lock-in. The
proposed blockchain model would function as an access-
control manager, utilizing a data lake to manage various
health data types, while only storing pointers on the
blockchain to optimize bandwidth. The system also employs
advanced identity authentication methods, empowering
patients to manage access to their health data through a
mobile dashboard. Additionally, the proposed architecture is
fault-tolerant, cost-effective, and designed to integrate
seamlessly with existing healthcare IT systems. The paper
concludes that blockchain technology can significantly
improve healthcare by ensuring interoperability, enabling
personalized medicine, and fostering better patient
engagement through secure, real-time access to health data.