Blockchain and Healthcare: Can it Secure Patient Data?

The healthcare sector faces a major dilemma in this digital transformation era: challenges that arise when handling and storing large volumes of patient data, particularly sensitive types. Concerns about system vulnerabilities that have resulted from the recent hacking attempts, data leakage, and unauthorized access to patient’s health information exist in the healthcare industry now. Most of the readers are acquainted with the so-called blockchain technology, which can become the solution for enhancing data security and credibility in every field possible. Nevertheless, can patient data in healthcare be secured by it?

Reviewing the Basic Concepts of Blockchain

To better grasp this topic, we first need to understand what blockchain is or is not. In other words, a blockchain is a distributed record that maintains a database of all transactions between computers in a network. Each record is stored in a “block” and when that block is filled with information, a new “chain” of blocks is linked to the completed chain that contains prior blocks. One links the other as every block forms a chain of records that cannot be easily broken.

The distinguishing characteristics of blockchain are:

1. Decentralization: This gives blockchain technology more security compared to traditional databases, which rely on a single authority (for instance an IT department in a hospital). That means the possibilities of data manipulation or the possibility of an illicit entry into the data are comparatively quite low.

2. Immutability: It is also important to note that data that is placed in the blockchain cannot be erased or changed any longer. By ensuring the integrity of data, then fraud can be minimized and change history is easily traceable.

3. Transparency: This ensures that participants in the blockchain network feel responsible and assured by the other participants since each one of them is looking at the same data version.

4. Blockchain data: is consisted in an encrypted form and stored safely to ensure that some crucial details stay disclosed to some particular individuals.

Why Blockchain Is a Good Application to Medical?

The healthcare industry handles huge amounts of data from clinical trials, billing and coding, and patients’ medical records. This information encompasses a large part of this data and often it is not general but rather belongs to particular persons so its processing has to be carried out according to certain legal norms and regulations such as HIPAA in the USA and GDPR from the EU. However, often, the well-organized methods based on centralization do not make a patient become the. full owner of the data, and provide enough security and clearness. In implementing the same, the blockchain has the following benefits.

1. Improved Data Security: Healthcare data breaches are rampant these days. Since blockchain is decentralized, it is almost impossible for hackers to steal or tamper with any information. If anyone tried to change the data, they would have to penetrate most of the nodes and that cannot happen since data is encrypted and distributed among machines.

2. Better Patient Privacy and Control: Two big questions in healthcare are patient consent and who owns data. Organizations can fully control who can access the patient data and when the patient data is accessed using blockchain technology. Smart contracts empower self-executing contracts with predefined terms of contract coded directly into codes; such means that patients can allow some healthcare providers restricted access to their data for some uses while retaining control and privacy.

3. Interoperability: The present state of healthcare architecture is characterized by many patients’ records that are disjointed and located in varied institutional domains. Blockchain can help in the concept of patient records from many healthcare platforms hence a decentralized and integrated platform is achievable using blockchain technology. This would lead to improvement of patient health, improved coordination of providers, and prevention of errors due to old or poor records.

4. Simplifying Clinical studies: To make certain that the information collected possesses only accurate and unimpeachable information, clinical research has to have proper data control. It is discovered that blockchain technology holds the potential to enhance clinical trial data traceability and transparency as well as avoid deceitful modification. Further, because blockchain technology may develop an immutable copy of consent commitments, it simplifies patient recruitment and consent.

5. Cutting Expenses and Boosting Efficiency: Blockchain technology holds the potential to eliminate intermediaries in healthcare thereby improving the supply chain. Some processes, such as issuing insurance claims or making payments, can be made easier with blockchain as this is a single source of information. This may help reduce some administrative costs and shorten the turnover time.

Challenges & Barriers to Implementing Blockchain in the Medical Industry

Although blockchain technology has many potential applications in healthcare, a few issues need to be resolved before it is widely used:

1. Scalability: It may be worth mentioning that in terms of the rates of data processing, blockchain systems can be comparatively slower than regular databases. Since speed is critical in an environment as fast-paced as healthcare, blockchain now has its pros and cons: Convenience is one downside since, as noted earlier, blockchain is experiencing issues with scaling currently.

2. Regulatory Uncertainty: Blockchain is relatively new in society and the healthcare industry is one of the most regulated industries in the world. As with any technology that has not yet been clearly defined in terms of general and specific medical consequences, the fact that patient confidentiality and/or state-specific laws may soon require healthcare organizations to use it is still an issue that some are unwilling to commit.

3. Interoperability and Standardization: Proponents of blockchain technology have argued that this technology has the potential of enhancing interoperability but for this to be achieved; integration of various healthcare systems, governments, and providers is requisite. It is now tough to create a continuous system across the healthcare industry because no process has been established for implementing blockchain.

4. Cost and Complexity: Blockchain adoption in the healthcare system will call for huge infrastructure as well as training undertakings. The stakeholders especially the healthcare providers would be tasked with the responsibility of :

 •Complying with the new regulations

• Training his/her personnel on these new regulations

• Upgrading of current system. It may prove to be costly and that would take some time in the process.

To conclude, can patient data serve a secure future?

Increased security, patient authority, and openness of blockchain make it a powerful tool for the safeguarding of the patient’s record across the healthcare industry. That is why it is impossible to turn a blind eye to its challenges, such as challenges like scalability, regulatory uncertainty, and implementation expenses. Blockchain technology has to coordinate with healthcare professionals, technology experts, and legal authorities to correctly address these issues before it can be VIA: used as a solution.

As technology advances, patient information data may be differently accessed, stored, and secured with blockchain. Although the technology is in application in the healthcare field, its prospects show that a more secure, efficient, and patient-centered healthcare delivery system is in the offing.