Blockchain-based privacy and security preserving in electronic health: a systematic review

• Published in: Multimedia tools and applications Vol. 82; no. 18; pp. 28493 - 28519
• Main Authors: Kiania, Kianoush, Jameii, Seyed Mahdi, Rahmani, Amir Masoud
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.07.2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Blockchain; Computer Communication Networks; Computer Science; Cryptography; Data Structures and Information Theory; Electronic health records; Literature reviews; Medical research; Multimedia Information Systems; Privacy; Security; Special Purpose and Application-Based Systems; Track 2: Medical Applications of Multimedia; SLR; Privacy; Electronic Health Records (HER); Smart contract; Security; Blockchain
• ISSN: 1380-7501; 1573-7721
• DOI: 10.1007/s11042-023-14488-w

In today’s world, health and medicine play an undeniable role in human life. Traditional and current Electronic Health Records (EHR) systems that are used to exchange information between medical stakeholders (patients, physicians, insurance companies, pharmaceuticals, medical researchers, etc.) suffer weaknesses in terms of security and privacy due to having centralized architecture. Blockchain technology ensures the privacy and security of EHR systems thanks to the use of encryption. Moreover, due to its decentralized nature, this technology prevents central failure and central attack points. In this paper, a systematic literature review (SLR) is proposed to analyze the existing Blockchain-based approaches for improving privacy and security in electronic health systems. The research methodology, paper selection process, and the search query are explained. 51 papers returned from our search criteria published between 2018 and Dec 2022 are reviewed. The main ideas, type of Blockchain, evaluation metrics, and used tools of each selected paper are discussed in detail. Finally, future research directions, open challenges, and some issues are discussed.