Distributed Ledger Technology Based Integrated Healthcare Solution for Bangladesh

Abstract

Healthcare data is highly sensitive and must be safeguarded. Personal and sensitive data, such as names and addresses, is stored in Encrypted Electronic Health Records (EHRs). This paper proposes a Blockchain-based distributed application platform for Bangladesh's public and private healthcare service providers. The proposed application framework enables users to create secure digital agreements for commerce or collaboration by leveraging data immutability and smart contracts. As a result, all stakeholders can collaborate securely over the same Blockchain network, taking advantage of their data's openness and read/write nature. The proposed application is made up of various application interfaces for various stakeholders. The proposed solution employs Hyperledger Fabric and Blockchain to ensure data integrity, privacy, permissions, and service availability. In the application portal, each user has a profile. The creation of a unique identity for each user, as well as the establishment of digital information centers across the country, has greatly aided the process. This application collects health data from each user in a systematic manner, which is useful for research institutes and healthcare-related organizations. For this application, a national data warehouse in Bangladesh is feasible, and various healthcare-related analyses can be performed using the collected data, assisting the strategy and planning department in making informed decisions regarding the healthcare sector in Bangladesh. Because Bangladesh has both public and private healthcare providers, a simple digital strategy is essential for all organizations to accomplish their services. This study proposes a solution to achieve this goal.INDEX TERMS Distributed ledger technology, integrated healthcare, blockchain, smart contract, hyperledger fabric, blockchain in healthcare.

A healthcare data management system: Blockchain enabled IPFS providing algorithmic solution for increased privacy preserving scalability and interoperability

“…These methods were entirely based on blockchain technology without any provision for medical image sharing. However, with the advancement in healthcare technology, methods such as IPFS were integrated with blockchain, enabling medical image sharing [23]- [30]. These works focused on utilizing the advantages of off-chain storage of IPFS and the consensus mechanism of blockchain technology.…”

“…However, in IoT-driven healthcare systems, the transaction of data was not based on the consensus blockchain mechanism. Moving ahead, a method proposed in [30] enabled users to form a digital agreement for the security and immutability of healthcare data. The framework was based on Hyperledger fabric with blockchain where each used had its own unique identity with the digital information centers.…”