A Blockchain-Based Approach for Audit Management of Electronic Health Records

The maintenance of proper health records is essential to patient health care. Electronic Health Records (EHR) are now replacing traditional Manual Health Records. Audit logs or Audit Trails are a record of events and changes done in a system. Majority of hospitals are required to maintain an audit trail of each and every EHR. Currently, the audit trail is stored in relational databases, which can be easily modified and trust can be lost in the process. Also, third-party audit trails are inefficient, costly, and time-consuming. Replication on Blockchain would be a viable method for securing audit trails so that they are secure, transparent, and immutable without the need for third-party intervention. In this manuscript, we have proposed an Audit Management System where immutable audit trail of EHR can be generated on Blockchain. In this system, a physician or other medical authority having access to this audit trail can easily verify all the consultations, procedures and prescriptions given to the patient in a chronological manner.