Blockchain in Healthcare and Management of COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Blockchain technology is a digital method that can be used in conjunction with artificial intelligence (AI) and refers to a verifiable permanent accounting system that can be used to store healthcare-related information. Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency and payment system. It is a kind of electronic money that seems to redefine money, one of the most important inventions of human beings. There is no authority such as the central bank of the countries in the Bitcoin system. There is a chain for cryptocurrencies called Blockchain. Any kind of money transfer in Bitcoin system is written on digital blocks instead of books, and recorded in a public distributed ledgers all over the world. How can such a system be useful in the healthcare sector when necessary security measures are taken? In electronic health records, according to the standards, a secure environment is provided by encrypting the data transmitted via e-mail, protecting personal health history and verifying the identity of users. Although the health sector attaches importance to ensuring patient privacy, it cannot prevent medical records from being exposed to cyber-attacks from time to time. The electronic ledger in which blockchain data records are kept is an open source that is accessible to everyone and any change on records cannot be made [1]. One of the parties of a transaction initiates the transaction by creating a block, and this block is verified by thousands, perhaps millions of computers distributed around the network. The verified block is added to another chain with a fully verified chain with error-free history. It is not stored in a single location, but also stored in a network that forms chains. If a single record is erroneous, it means that the entire chain is faulty for millions of cases, which is almost impossible. Blockchain is of critical importance to meet the need for effective provision of healthcare services during the COVID-19 pandemic days. In this article, we aimed to reveal the technological foundation called Blockchain and its usability in healthcare services.

Keywords

• blockchain
• artificial intelligence
• healthcare

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