Case studies of evaluating the suitability of blockchain applications in healthcare
| Category | Case description | Assumptions | Decision path | Final outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Healthcare data management | MedRec—enables patients a comprehensive, immutable log and convenient access to their medical information across providers and treatment sites | No | 1-Yes, 2-No, 3-Yes, 4-Yes, 5-Yes, 6-No, 7-Yes, 8-Yes | Public permissioned blockchain |
| Pharmaceutical supply chain and healthcare logistics | Drugledger is designed to enhance traceability and regulation throughout the drug supply chain | Prioritize operational efficiency and long-term sustainability over initial cost | 1-Yes, 2-No, 3-Yes, 4-Yes, 5-Yes, 6-No, 7-Yes, 8-Yes | Public permissioned blockchain |
| Interoperability and consolidated healthcare systems | iWellChain—is designed to improve data sharing among healthcare providers and patients, ensuring data interoperability and security | Transaction costs are paid by the users initiating transactions, allowing them to operate without incurring the full burden of the network costs, and distributing it among users | 1-Yes, 2-No, 3-Yes, 4-Yes, 5-Yes, 6-No, 7-Yes, 8-No | Public permissionless blockchain |
| Clinical trials and medical research | DACIL—to define decision support and a digital companion to aid patients (and their caregivers) during lung attacks. The project requires trials to collect user data and to have them interact with the platform | Phase 1: User’s data and some previously collected cohorts will be stored on a trusted platform. Few data analysts will have access to the dataPhase 2: The investigators would like to find a way to share data later with the broader research community | Phase 1: 1-Yes, 2-YesPhase 2: 1-Yes, 2-No, 3-Yes, 4-Yes, 5-No | Initially, blockchain is not needed. When sharing broadly, a public permissionless blockchain would help to better control the data |
| Remote care and Internet of Things (IoT) architectures | REALM—aims to define a monitoring platform in support of the health Artificial Intelligence (AI) software certification process | In order to test health AI software, special data needs to be used. Health data is not shared but the outcomes of the tests on the AI models should be seen and trusted by all the members of the REALM network. No trusted third party can be used | 1-Yes, 2-No, 3-Yes, 4-Yes, 5-Yes, 6-No, 7-No, 9-Yes | REALM requires a public permissioned blockchain for public verifiability |
| Health insurance and claims processing | ChainSure—aims to create a decentralized, tamper-proof system for health insurance management. It automates policy selection, claims processing, and data sharing, thereby reducing administrative overhead and enhancing data integrity | Transaction costs are paid by the users initiating transactions, allowing them to operate without incurring the full burden of the network costs, and distributing it among users | 1-Yes, 2-No, 3-Yes, 4-Yes, 5-Yes, 6-No, 7-Yes, 8-No | Public permissionless blockchain |
| Governance | License accoUntability and CompliancE (LUCE)—is designed to facilitate compliance with data licensing terms and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requirements through a blockchain solution | Transaction costs are paid by the users initiating transactions, allowing them to operate without incurring the full burden of the network costs, and distributing it among users | 1-Yes, 2-No, 3-Yes, 4-Yes, 5-Yes, 6-No, 7-Yes, 8-No | Public permissionless blockchain |
