A Hybrid Quantum-Blockchain Model for Enhancing Security in Electronic Health Records

Abstract

The healthcare industry is increasingly dependent on digital technologies for the storage, access, and sharing of sensitive patient data. While this brings significant benefits in terms of efficiency and accessibility, it also raises critical concerns regarding privacy, security, and trust. This paper proposes a hybrid Quantum-Blockchain system for secure healthcare through a decentralized, tamper-proof method for managing Electronic Health Records (EHRs). We present the design and implementation of a decentralized application (DApp) that leverages Ethereum smart contracts and InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) to securely store and control access to patient records. The proposed system empowers patients with ownership and control over their medical data, while enabling authorized doctors to access records with explicit patient consent. The system shows a temporal performance efficiency for Ethereum-based DApp mining. However, the system remains approximately 19 times slower than traditional Proof-of-Stake protocols, indicating a trade-off between enhanced security and computational speed.