Cloud-Based Hierarchical Consortium Blockchain Networks for Timely Publication and Efficient Retrieval of Electronic Health Records
Alvin Thamrin, Haiping Xu, Rui Ming · Advances in Science Technology and Engineering Systems Journal · 2022
Blockchain technology is seeing a trend of popularity and adoption in many different application areas.One such area is healthcare, as there is a need to develop a system that can reliably store and share electronic health records (EHRs) among hospital-based health facilities.In this paper, we present a cloud-based hierarchical consortium blockchain framework for storing and sharing EHRs in a scalable, secure, and reliable manner.The framework enables data sharing between local hospital blockchain networks (HBNs) through high-level blockchain networks, namely, city blockchain networks (CBNs) and a state blockchain network (SBN).To support the timely publication of EHRs in HBNs, we adopt a temporary and permanent block scheme in hospital blockchains.In addition, we develop role-based access control (RBAC) policies for data authorization and procedures for concurrent search and retrieval of EHRs across cities and states.The experimental results show that our proposed approach is feasible and supports timely publication and efficient retrieval of EHRs in cloud-based hierarchical blockchain networks.