Security in Electronic Health Records System: Blockchain-Based Framework to Protect Data Integrity
Department
Information Technology
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2023
Abstract
Electronic Health Records (EHRs) are intended to improve the quality, efficiency, and safety of patient care. When a patient visits a different provider or an external hospital system, record transmittal to the next point of care is not always guaranteed unless a reciprocity agreement is already in place. A functional interoperable system should include secure network infrastructure, verification of identity, and authentication of all participants as well as consistent proof of authorization of electronic health records. In this research, we consider data security and transparency and introduce a novel blockchain-based database framework for electronic health records of patients and providers that allows data sharing among providers and would bring major benefits such as decreased cost of accessing healthcare. The framework will be able to overcome the interoperability barrier between commercial EHR systems and allow patients to take full control of their health records by granting healthcare providers permission to share data seamlessly based on need. The framework shall be efficient in timely accessing the patient data by providers, improving clinical workflow and quality of care from other organizations without interruptions to their workflow. The proposed framework also addresses the security concern by providing a transparent, decentralized, and secure network of digital EHR records. We perform a case study using Hyperledger fabric for teleradiology application for secure and efficient medical image sharing.
Journal Title
Advances in Information Security
Journal ISSN
15682633
Volume
102
First Page
125
Last Page
137
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.1007/978-3-031-25506-9_7