Secure EHR Sharing Using Blockchain and IPFS

Abstract

The utilization of blockchain technology has seen widespread adoption across various industries, including healthcare. With a growing demand for patient-centric healthcare systems and the imperative to enhance the accuracy of electronic health data, blockchain is poised to significantly impact the healthcare sector. Healthcare providers can leverage blockchain technology to facilitate and monitor peer-to-peer transactions within a decentralized network. Nonetheless, the sharing of electronic health records presents inherent risks, particularly concerning the preservation of patient privacy and ensuring strict access control. Furthermore, the integration of blockchain with the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) offers potential solutions to limitations associated with traditional cloud storage. While traditional cloud systems may impose centralization dependencies on users, the immutability of blockchain data combined with IPFS provides benefits such as decentralized file storage, cost reduction, and increased transparency. In this paper, we propose a design and security architecture for electronic health records (EHRs) based on blockchain technology. Our approach aims to enable secure and authorized sharing of medical information among healthcare providers, thereby ensuring the integrity and confidentiality of patient health data. Additionally, we conduct a comparative analysis of existing research on the utilization of blockchain technology in secure health data sharing, drawing on various scientific databases for article retrieval and analysis.