Blockchain in Healthcare: A Case Study of Healthcare Insurance

Due to its distributed, decentralized database and capacity to offer immutability, tamper resistance, and transparency qualities, blockchain technology has attracted interest for use in the healthcare sector. Blockchain technology integration has the potential to enhance healthcare data management. By incorporating blockchain, healthcare networks can establish trust and ensure data security and privacy. However, existing studies mainly focus on the relationship between patients and hospitals, neglecting the incorporation of insurance aspects such as indemnity and insurance reimbursement. This paper proposed to address this issue by proposing a comprehensive blockchain-based healthcare system that encompasses the entire process, from patient registration to payment and insurance claiming procedures. The paper's focus on privacy rules, which enables the systematic management of hospital data in compliance with regulations including the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), is a major strength. The legal framework has been carefully examined to facilitate the implementation of this project. The system implemented in this study utilizes Hyperledger Besu, a private blockchain platform. Given the sensitivity of healthcare data, a privacy group and permission settings are employed to prevent unauthorized access. The technical design of the healthcare network and an early-stage prototype are described in detail.