Abstract
The traditional technologies and digital systems of managing and
maintaining data are inherently prone to manipulation at various levels. Ensuring the
anonymity of the patient's identity, the safety of the medical records, and preventing the
patient data from accidental and intended manipulations have been the industry's
biggest challenges for decades. Failing to control the integrity of the Patient Health
Records (PHRs) and Medical Health Records (MHRs) in the Healthcare Data
Management System (HDMS)/ Healthcare Information System (HIS) may create
challenges in identifying, diagnosing, and treating the disease and puts the patient at a
greater risk. The frequency of healthcare data breaches, the magnitude of compromised
records, and the financial impact rapidly increase with time. This chapter
systematically and critically reviews the issues and challenges faced by various
healthcare stakeholders in PHRs/MHRs-based HDMS/HIS systems. Blockchain
powered patient health record and sharing schemes can be used to ensure the integrity
and safety of healthcare data and share data among various healthcare ecosystem
stakeholders using smart contracts to promote transparency, tamper-proofing, and
consented access to data in distributed multi-stakeholder environment. This chapter
highlights the need for post-quantum cryptography and recommendations for future
improvements in blockchain-based patient health records and sharing system.
Keywords: Blockchain, Distributed Ledger, Healthcare Data Management System, Healthcare Information System, Medical Health Records, Patient Health Record, Post-Quantum Cryptography, Smart Contract.