MediLink: A Secure Blockchain Framework for Multi-Institutional Healthcare
Jorge Castillo, Qian Chen · 2023
The use of Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) in the healthcare industry has proven to be critical for storing highly sensitive information. Disseminating and protecting healthcare data poses major challenges for the current healthcare information system. Blockchain technology provides solutions to these challenges with its inherited properties, such as decentralization, immutability, and transparency. This provides a unique opportunity to improve data sharing among stakeholders. We propose MediLink, a blockchain-based framework for secure collaborative medical storage. MediLink is designed to (1) protect EMR data from cyber attacks, (2) share healthcare information of patients with different stakeholders, and (3) enable the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) (e.g., smart sensors) communication and real-time data transmission with EMR and the blockchain network through a secured channel. MediLink adds security features to EMRs without requiring modification of current digital health infrastructures, increasing interoperability among healthcare systems.