Healthcare Applications Using Blockchain Technology: Motivations and Challenges

Blockchain technology is one of the most important inventions and creative advancements that play a crucial role in today's business world. Blockchain technology is heading in the direction of systematic innovation and revolution. It is a digital ledger of transactions, and every block contains information of transactions linked by cryptographic references. Every block covers information and maintains trust among people based on how far they are. Blockchain is a system used for storing data, and it ensures the security of the system. The resurgence in blockchain technology has encouraged scholars and specialists over the past couple of years to carefully examine new ways of implementing blockchain technology with a wide range in the domain of healthcare. This rapid increase in blockchain technology has generated many endless possibilities. In this article, we provide a review of blockchain technology in healthcare. We present a detailed introduction, history, technical information, and types of blockchain technology. Motivations behind this technology and top healthcare projects completed using this technology are also discussed. This article is classified into three groups based on blockchain applications with their use cases. The evaluation of medical care technologies and relevant applications based on blockchain technology, such as sharing electronic medical records, remote patient monitoring, and supply chain management, are also discussed. In revolutionizing the healthcare industry, we illustrate the potential of blockchain technology. We have also focused on identifying the limitations of previous approaches. Finally, this article is concluded with some open research issues and future research direction.