Blockchain-Based Personal Health Records for Patients’ Empowerment

Abstract

With the current trend of patient-centric health-care, blockchain-based Personal Health Records (PHRs) frameworks have been emerging. The adoption of these frameworks is still in its infancy stage and is dependent on a broad range of factors. In this paper we look at some of the typical concerns raised from a centralized medical records solution such as the one deployed in France. Based on the state of the art literature in terms of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) and PHRs, we discuss the main implementation bottlenecks that can be encountered when deploying a blockchain solution and how to avoid them. In particular, we explore these bottlenecks in the context of the French PHR system and suggest some recommendations for a paradigm shift towards patients’ empowerment.