A Framework for the Adoption of Blockchain Technology in Healthcare Information Management Systems

Abstract

The role of record keeping and information sharing in the health sector cannot be overemphasized. More recently, there has been renewed interest in finding a solution to the issues pertaining to privacy of health records and how these records can be easily accessed by different healthcare providers in healthcare-service delivery. Thus, such records comprise an individual's health history and other information that facilitates healthcare decisions. Furthermore, easy access to a patient's health information is an important aspect of health-service delivery that must be regulated and monitored because of the sensitivity of the information. Current approaches adopted in many hospitals face challenges of missing files, or records, lack of information sharing between healthcare providers, insecure records and also inaccessibility of patients' health information for healthcare providers that are needed to make informed health decisions. Building from a case study grounded in interviews and document review, we propose a scalable framework that supports the adoption of blockchain technology in addressing the issues of privacy, information sharing, and record keeping in the health sector.