Title: Cloud-based electronic health record sharing and access controlling blockchain architecture using data de-identification method

Authors: Munshi Rejwan Ala Muid; Afrin Jubaida; Md. Mehedi Hasan Onik; Hamim Hamid

Addresses: Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Islamic University of Technology, Gazipur, Dhaka, Bangladesh ' Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Islamic University of Technology, Gazipur, Dhaka, Bangladesh ' Department of Computer Science, American International University of Bangladesh (AIUB), Dhaka – 1229, Bangladesh ' Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Islamic University of Technology, Gazipur, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Abstract: Electronic health record (EHR) demands the highest privacy and security as the accuracy of medical research and service largely depend on the integrity of it. Intruders can tamper sensitive protected health information (PHI) or personally identifiable information (PII) purposefully. This study aims to use blockchain technology to build a complete EHR sharing and tracking system, such that even after access is granted to researchers or medical personnel, EHRs remain unaltered and the identities of patients are hidden. This work uses a traditional cloud storage system to store information while saving the indexes of EHRs in a chain to ensure PHI integrity. Additionally, data sharing is secured by applying a randomly selected data de-identification method that guarantees integrity and trackability of user data anonymously. Finally, this work demonstrates a complete architectural implementation (using Hyperledger and a private blockchain network) of the proposed EHR sharing and access controlling by using two levels of chain (two distinct ledgers) that ensures an efficient sharing platform of PHI.

Keywords: electronic health records; EHR; blockchain; private cloud; data de-identification; security; access control.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMEI.2024.139883

International Journal of Medical Engineering and Informatics, 2024 Vol.16 No.4, pp.295 - 311

Received: 22 Jun 2021
Accepted: 08 Feb 2022
Published online: 09 Jul 2024 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article