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Implementing Blockchains for Efficient Health Care: Systematic Review

BACKGROUND: The decentralized nature of sensitive health information can bring about situations where timely information is unavailable, worsening health outcomes. Furthermore, as patient involvement in health care increases, there is a growing need for patients to access and control their data. Blo...

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Autores principales: Vazirani, Anuraag A, O'Donoghue, Odhran, Brindley, David, Meinert, Edward
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: JMIR Publications 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6390185/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30747714
http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/12439
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author Vazirani, Anuraag A
O'Donoghue, Odhran
Brindley, David
Meinert, Edward
author_facet Vazirani, Anuraag A
O'Donoghue, Odhran
Brindley, David
Meinert, Edward
author_sort Vazirani, Anuraag A
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: The decentralized nature of sensitive health information can bring about situations where timely information is unavailable, worsening health outcomes. Furthermore, as patient involvement in health care increases, there is a growing need for patients to access and control their data. Blockchain is a secure, decentralized online ledger that could be used to manage electronic health records (EHRs) efficiently, therefore with the potential to improve health outcomes by creating a conduit for interoperability. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to perform a systematic review to assess the feasibility of blockchain as a method of managing health care records efficiently. METHODS: Reviewers identified studies via systematic searches of databases including PubMed, MEDLINE, Scopus, EMBASE, ProQuest, and Cochrane Library. Suitability for inclusion of each was assessed independently. RESULTS: Of the 71 included studies, the majority discuss potential benefits and limitations without evaluation of their effectiveness, although some systems were tested on live data. CONCLUSIONS: Blockchain could create a mechanism to manage access to EHRs stored on the cloud. Using a blockchain can increase interoperability while maintaining privacy and security of data. It contains inherent integrity and conforms to strict legal regulations. Increased interoperability would be beneficial for health outcomes. Although this technology is currently unfamiliar to most, investments into creating a sufficiently user-friendly interface and educating users on how best to take advantage of it would lead to improved health outcomes. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): RR2-10.2196/10994
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spelling pubmed-63901852019-03-15 Implementing Blockchains for Efficient Health Care: Systematic Review Vazirani, Anuraag A O'Donoghue, Odhran Brindley, David Meinert, Edward J Med Internet Res Original Paper BACKGROUND: The decentralized nature of sensitive health information can bring about situations where timely information is unavailable, worsening health outcomes. Furthermore, as patient involvement in health care increases, there is a growing need for patients to access and control their data. Blockchain is a secure, decentralized online ledger that could be used to manage electronic health records (EHRs) efficiently, therefore with the potential to improve health outcomes by creating a conduit for interoperability. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to perform a systematic review to assess the feasibility of blockchain as a method of managing health care records efficiently. METHODS: Reviewers identified studies via systematic searches of databases including PubMed, MEDLINE, Scopus, EMBASE, ProQuest, and Cochrane Library. Suitability for inclusion of each was assessed independently. RESULTS: Of the 71 included studies, the majority discuss potential benefits and limitations without evaluation of their effectiveness, although some systems were tested on live data. CONCLUSIONS: Blockchain could create a mechanism to manage access to EHRs stored on the cloud. Using a blockchain can increase interoperability while maintaining privacy and security of data. It contains inherent integrity and conforms to strict legal regulations. Increased interoperability would be beneficial for health outcomes. Although this technology is currently unfamiliar to most, investments into creating a sufficiently user-friendly interface and educating users on how best to take advantage of it would lead to improved health outcomes. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): RR2-10.2196/10994 JMIR Publications 2019-02-12 /pmc/articles/PMC6390185/ /pubmed/30747714 http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/12439 Text en ©Anuraag A Vazirani, Odhran O'Donoghue, David Brindley, Edward Meinert. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 12.02.2019. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://www.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.
spellingShingle Original Paper
Vazirani, Anuraag A
O'Donoghue, Odhran
Brindley, David
Meinert, Edward
Implementing Blockchains for Efficient Health Care: Systematic Review
title Implementing Blockchains for Efficient Health Care: Systematic Review
title_full Implementing Blockchains for Efficient Health Care: Systematic Review
title_fullStr Implementing Blockchains for Efficient Health Care: Systematic Review
title_full_unstemmed Implementing Blockchains for Efficient Health Care: Systematic Review
title_short Implementing Blockchains for Efficient Health Care: Systematic Review
title_sort implementing blockchains for efficient health care: systematic review
topic Original Paper
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6390185/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30747714
http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/12439
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