Evaluating Blockchain Approaches for Secure and Efficient Management of Electronic Health Records: A Decision-Making View

Abstract

With the rapid expansion of healthcare data, especially Electronic Health Records (EHRs), there are significant concerns about data security, privacy, interoperability, and accessibility. When utilizing conventional centralized EHR systems, patients usually lack transparency and control over their medical data. In order to handle data safely, this study proposes the B-DECIDE (Blockchain-Driven Electronic Health Record Control, Integrity, and Data Efficiency framework), a decision-making paradigm that leverages the immutability, decentralization, and cryptography aspects of blockchain technology. B-DECIDE evaluates a number of blockchain topologies, including as public, private, and consortium, together with consensus algorithms like Proof of Work (PoW) and Proof of Stake (PoS), in order to determine how effective healthcare is. The findings indicate that a hybrid on-chain/off-chain storage approach maintains scalability, enhances data integrity, reduces latency, and ensures regulatory compliance.