Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Mar 8, 2021
Date Accepted: Sep 10, 2021
Date Submitted to PubMed: Sep 17, 2021
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Applications of blockchain in the medical field: a narrative review
ABSTRACT
Background:
As a distributed technology, blockchain has attracted increasing attention from stakeholders in the medical industry. Although previous studies have analyzed blockchain applications from the perspective of technology, business or patient care, few studies have focused on actual use-case scenarios of blockchain in healthcare. In particular, the outbreak of pandemics such as COVID-19 also brings about new ideas for the application of blockchain in medical practice. More importantly, with the development of a new generation of information technology, the emerging integration of blockchain with other high-tech technologies also provides the potential for the large-scale application of blockchain technology.
Objective:
This paper aims to provide a systematic review of the current and projected uses of blockchain technology in a healthcare system and to identify the corresponding utilization challenges and limitations to provide a direction for future research. In addition to the framework structure of blockchain and application scenarios, its integration with other emerging technologies in healthcare is also discussed.
Methods:
We searched databases such as PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, IEEE, and Springer using a combination of terms related to blockchain and healthcare. Potentially relevant papers were then compared to determine their relevance and reviewed independently for either inclusion or exclusion. Through a literature review, we summarized some medical scenarios using blockchain technology.
Results:
We found 1,535 relevant studies, 60 unique studies of which were included in this review. These studies report a variety of uses for blockchain. We divide the medical application scenarios of blockchain into four major categories: personalized health data storage and authorization, management and education, medical research, and health monitoring and tracking. Moreover, four challenges, confidentiality issues, efficiency issues, security issues, and regulatory policy issues, are summarized.
Conclusions:
Blockchain technology can improve healthcare services in a decentralized, tamper-proof, transparent, traceable, reliable, trustful, and secure manner. With the development of its own technology and its integration with other emerging technologies, blockchain has the potential to offer long-term benefits, despite its challenges. Blockchain can not only be a mechanism to secure electronic health records (EHRs) but also be a powerful tool in empowering users to control their own health data, enabling a fool-proof health data history and establishing medical responsibility.
Citation
