The application can be easily handled even by novice users and its interface is quite user friendly. Block-chain technology is getting eminence in the market now a days and it is being used in various sectors. This technology can play a great role in decentralizing the health sector.
The healthcare industry has been adopting innovative technologies that allow digitalization of health records and automation of clinical processes. The need for interoperability across different departments in healthcare requires a seamless data exchange inside the system. However, confidentiality and integrity of data are critical issues during the process of sharing data across different authorized parties. Hundreds of millions of medical records have been compromised in 2016 and the number increases. The emerging blockchain technology is a revolutionary mechanism, which ensures data integrity and confidentiality inside any system. Some healthcare providers have been inclined to implement blockchain technology as it presents a decentralized and encrypted way of storing and sharing information.
This emerging technology has a great potential to enhance the confidentiality and integrity of Electronic Health Records. In this paper, we conducted a systematic literature review to find out the research gaps and future research directions in blockchain technology in healthcare research. The literature is analyzed to find advantages, disadvantages and challenges of adopting blockchain technology in healthcare from people, process technology perspectives.
A blockchain is, in the simplest of terms, a time-stamped series of immutable record of data that is managed by a cluster of computers not owned by any single entity. Each of these blocks of data (i.e. block) are secured and bound to each other using cryptographic principles.
The reason why the blockchain has gained so much admiration is that:
-> It is not owned by a single entity, hence it is decentralized
-> The data is cryptographically stored inside
-> The blockchain is immutable, so no one can tamper with the data that is inside the blockchain
-> The blockchain is transparent so one can track the data if they want to