Blockchain in Health Care Innovation: Literature Review and Case Study From a Business Ecosystem Perspective

Abstract

Background Blockchain technology is leveraging its innovative potential in various sectors and its transformation of business-related processes has drawn much attention. Topics of research interest have focused on medical and health care applications, while research implications have generally concluded in system design, literature reviews, and case studies. However, a general overview and knowledge about the impact on the health care ecosystem is limited. Objective This paper explores a potential paradigm shift and ecosystem evolution in health care utilizing blockchain technology. Methods A literature review with a case study on a pioneering initiative was conducted. With a systematic life cycle analysis, this study sheds light on the evolutionary development of blockchain in health care scenarios and its interactive relationship among stakeholders. Results Four stages—birth, expansion, leadership, and self-renewal or death—in the life cycle of the business ecosystem were explored to elucidate the evolving trajectories of blockchain-based health care implementation. Focused impacts on the traditional health care industry are highlighted within each stage to further support the potential health care paradigm shift in the future. Conclusions This paper enriches the existing body of literature in this field by illustrating the potential of blockchain in fulfilling stakeholders’ needs and elucidating the phenomenon of coevolution within the health care ecosystem. Blockchain not only catalyzes the interactions among players but also facilitates the formation of the ecosystem life cycle. The collaborative network linked by blockchain may play a critical role on value creation, transfer, and sharing among the health care community. Future efforts may focus on empirical or case studies to validate the proposed evolution of the health care ecosystem.

What Are the Topics That Business Ecosystems Navigate? Updating of Scientific Activity and Future Research Agenda

“…The Netherlands (n = 6) and Taiwan (n = 6) rank 9th and 10th [41,49]. Japan (n = 5) is in 11th position, followed by Italy and the United States in 12th and 13th positions, with four documents each.…”

“…Reviews number four, 4.17% of the 96 documents [4,[41][42][43]. These four papers allow us to infer that few reviews have been carried out and the most recent was done in 2021.…”

“…There are numerous study topics linked to business ecosystems, such as digital business ecosystems [4,29,30], sustainability [11,31,32], business development [33][34][35], business models [7,36,37], benchmarking [38], electronic commerce [7,39], supply-chain management [8,9], and blockchain [40,41], among others.…”

“…The third study [41] aimed to explore a model change and ecosystem growth in health care making use of blockchain technology. This study exposed the evolutionary development of blockchain in the context of health care and its dynamic relationship between participants.…”

The Health Care Sector’s Experience of Blockchain: A Cross-disciplinary Investigation of Its Real Transformative Potential

“…Organizations willing to attempt blockchain implementations will also need to join a suitable network of participants willing to align and collaborate over a common interest in a particular kind of health care data via a blockchain network and avoid generating significant user resistance from staff. Neither task is likely to be easy [30,32,[88][89][90].…”