Supporting secure and efficient collaborative health information exchange: A hybrid blockchain and ontology based approach

Patients visit different healthcare institutions during their lifetime, and as a result, their personal health records are stored across different healthcare information systems. Cross-institutional patient data sharing is essential to provide caregivers with a comprehensive view of patients’ health profiles and improving the quality of care. However, security, semantic interoperability, and trust are major barriers that limit seamless exchange of healthcare data. To address these concerns, we apply the Design Science Research (DSR) methodology to propose and develop a functional blockchain-based healthcare information exchange system. At its core, the DSR artifact, called Blockchain-based Healthcare Information Exchange System (B-HIES), integrates private permissioned blockchain technology and interactive ontology mapping techniques. The efficacy and complementarity of the solution are evaluated based on a combination of scenario-based simulation and logically informed arguments. The integration of permissioned blockchain technology and interactive ontology mapping techniques in our proposed solution provides secure, reliable, and trustworthy data exchange among healthcare institutions. This paper discusses how the solution streamlines patent data exchange in heterogeneous healthcare networks. We note that developing such a system is a complex process and requires the involvement of experts with specialized knowledge in a variety of disciplines, such as blockchain, ontologies, healthcare, and medicine.