Smart contract empowered dynamic consent: decentralized storage and access control for healthcare applications

Smart contract empowered dynamic consent: decentralized storage and access control for healthcare applications
Aparna Singh, Geetanjali Rathee
Peer-to-Peer Networking and Applications, 10 December 2024
Abstract
The ability to share Electronic Health Records (EHRs) with the right people plays a crucial role in providing on-time diagnosis. The outsourcing of private health data on the cloud, with negligible control in the hands of the data owners, poses a significant challenge for e-healthcare applications. Obtaining the owner’s consent is not just essential for data sharing but also to protect the privacy of the data being shared. With the help of Blockchain and Interplanetary File System (IPFS), this research paper proposes a purpose-based framework for obtaining dynamic consent before sharing data among healthcare providers, academicians, etc. The study develops a blockchain system on the Ethereum network to store encrypted EHRs on IPFS. This architecture allows for secure and privacy-enhanced data sharing. The proposed model demonstrates effectiveness in enhancing data security, privacy, scalability, ownership, and integrity of medical records. The cost analysis shows a negligible contract deployment cost of 0.00174363 ETH, equivalent to $2.78. The framework presents a viable solution for securing EHRs and obtaining dynamic consent, ensuring improved healthcare data management. The use of blockchain and IPFS offers a promising avenue for enhancing data security and privacy in e-healthcare applications.