Blockchain for healthcare applications and use cases

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of how distributed ledger technologies (‘blockchain’) are currently being developed and deployed in the healthcare sector. Part I of the chapter provides an overview of data sources and data categories utilised in the study before analysing and highlighting the main findings of this study. Three findings are noteworthy: firstly, that the majority of blockchain for healthcare applications are still at the ‘concept’ or ‘development’ stage, and do not yet have an available product or service. Secondly, blockchain for healthcare applications that are promoted in the English language are predominately located in the United States. Thirdly, there are four observable categories of blockchain for healthcare applications with the most prevalent of these concerned with patient sovereignty over medical data. Part II of examines these four categories namely patient care, patient sovereignty over health data, healthcare administration and medical research in more detail. Part II of the chapter discusses the insights gleaned from the key findings of the study before some concluding remarks are made.