Title: Yet another investigation on blockchain in smart healthcare

Authors: Mohiuddin Ahmed; Shahrin Zubair; A.F.M. Suaib Akhter; Abu S.S.M. Barkat Ullah

Addresses: School of Science, Edith Cowan University, Perth, WA 6027, Australia ' Department of Computer Science and Engineering, International Islamic University of Chittagong, Chittagong, 4318, Bangladesh ' Department of Computer Engineering, Sakarya University, Sakarya, 54050, Turkey ' Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Canberra, Canberra, 2617, Australia

Abstract: Blockchain technology is a digital tool to modernise the existing smart healthcare ecosystem that uses the internet of things (IoT) as one of its prerequisites. The growing demand for reliable and cost-effective remote healthcare services incorporated with blockchain technology amidst the pandemic COVID-19 particularly highlights the positive impact on the healthcare industry. Identifying and classifying the advantages of blockchain-based healthcare applications are required for bringing a revolutionary transformation. There has been a plethora of research and reviews on blockchain in healthcare, however, there is a lack of synergy among COVID-19, healthcare, blockchain platforms, interoperability, datasets, and challenges. Hence, this survey showcases these key areas of the blockchain-based healthcare ecosystem. Unlike others, our survey also indicated the requirement of explainable blockchain and appropriate future directions.

Keywords: blockchain; internet of things (IoT); e-health; digital health; electronic health records; remote patient monitoring system; interoperability; cryptography; smart contracts; hyperledger fabric; ethereum; supply chain management; COVID-19.

DOI: 10.1504/IJASM.2021.120243

International Journal of Agile Systems and Management, 2021 Vol.14 No.4, pp.614 - 634

Received: 05 Mar 2021
Accepted: 02 Sep 2021
Published online: 11 Jan 2022 *

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