A proposed patient-centric healthcare framework for better Semantic interoperability using Blockchain

Abstract

Recent years have seen a paradigm shift in the data<br> sharing and interoperability of Electronic Health Records (EHRs),<br> especially in cloud environments. EHR systems traditionally used<br> to exchange health information amongst healthcare stakeholders<br> have been criticized for centralizing power, failures, and attack<br> points with the exchange data custodians. However, this paradigm<br> also raises many concerns about data privacy and security for ehealth<br> systems. Blockchain promises to address the many EHR<br> challenges, primarily trust-less and secure health information<br> exchange among stakeholders.<br> This study considered 15 healthcare models and frameworks<br> based on Blockchain that discussed theoretical, technical, and<br> architectural viewpoints that addressed interoperability, privacy,<br> security, cost, and performance dimensions. Based on that, it<br> presents a novel EHRs interoperability framework that combines<br> Blockchain, cloud, and decentralized data sources among multiple<br> healthcare ecosystems based on the strict-layered topology. The<br> empirical results show that our framework provides an effective<br> solution for interoperability and reliable data exchanges while<br> preserving sensitive health information against potential threats.<br> Keywords— Electronic health records (EHRs), EHRs sharing,<br> mobile cloud computing (MCC), Internet of Medical Things (IoMT),<br> Blockchain, smart contracts, DLT, distributed ledger technology,<br> distributed computing, interoperability, access control, privacy,<br> security, health information management, health information<br> exchange, digital health, eHealth.