Revolutionizing healthcare systems of a developing country using Blockchain

Abstract

In present days, data security and citizen privacy are the vulnerable areas globally. Amongst them, healthcare systems are the most targeted ones. In Nepal, among the few e-health systems available, most are disconnected, fragmented and cyber security aspect is overlooked, creating even more risk. To effectively guide health care systems and make it more citizen-centric, centralized secured online healthcare system is essential. This study proposes a centralized, permissioned Blockchain based secured healthcare system using hyperledger for developing countries. This system follows distributed storage technology to facilitate better availability, redundancy and strong confidentiality using cryptographic encryption. Besides, this technique creates a transparent yet secure and immutable data storage and sharing platform. It optimally and effectively contributes to the transfer of health information that is cost effective. Regarding it, a pilot study was performed taking a tertiary care hospital; Hospital for Children, Eye, ENT and Rehabilitation Services (CHEERS) and its community hospital at Chapagaun. It was validated using the balanced scorecard to confirm its cost-effective performance. Nineteen most essential key progress indicators were chosen for study. From this study, it was deduced that transforming internal business process of a hospital setting by implementing proposed healthcare system results in 75% customer satisfaction as well as 63% financial gain. This approach uplifts the healthcare organizations and their financial status. It, in turn, sets a benchmark for a secured health care system of developing countries as a whole.