Challenges of Blockchain in Healthcare

A blockchain is a distributed, decentralized ledger in which blocks are connected to one another and each block contains some information such as transaction information and a unique hash. It is the latest technology that has been adopted in many industries as it allows to perform transactions from any part of the world. It gives users the same rights and no third parties are involved. 

Blockchain and Health Industry

Blockchain is not only used for transaction purposes. It can be used in health sectors as well:

• Blockchain can allow doctors and patients to exchange data efficiently. 
• Doctors can have access to the medical records of any patient as each block has a unique hash. 
• Data can be updated efficiently as a doctor or any other user doesn’t have to search each record for updating the information. 
• Nowadays, many health cares accept cryptocurrency. Patients can pay anytime and from anywhere. 
• Patients can earn incentives if they successfully mine a block. 

Challenges of Blockchain in Healthcare

Blockchain is totally new technology and it has not been fully effective yet.  As Blockchain is a new technology, there are many challenges of blockchain in the Healthcare sector:

1. Lack of Technical Knowledge

It is not expected that all users will have expensive hardware and software resources. Many users also are not acquainted with the latest technologies. For example, many old men and women do not use laptops or computers for instance. GPUs are required for cryptocurrency mining which is not present in all laptops. This is a big challenge of blockchain. 

Solution: Users should be aware of the latest technologies. The media should actively spread these latest technologies. Companies should also try to reduce the prices of the technologies. 

2. Lack of Paperless Method Adoption

Many users and doctors prefer paper records. They prefer to keep the medical records in a file system. Some medicine shops are not 100% paperless. Most medicine shops use prescriptions to keep records of their medicines. Patients also keep the paper works for their handy purpose. So adapting to a total paperless blockchain network is a challenging task. 

Solution: Doctors should use small blockchains in order to get habituated to the latest technology. They should try to use minimum papers. For X-ray plates and other surgery-related documents, they can use paper. But for prescriptions and other file records, the health sector should adopt blockchains as it is easy to store. 

3. Lack of Government Involvement

Most Hospitals are Government owned. So there is the involvement of the Government to implement rules. Some Governments are adamant to adopt the latest technologies. Therefore Blockchain cannot be implemented in Government owned Hospitals because it is a highly decentralized, distributed ledger. No central authority r third parties are there to make decisions. The decisions are usually made by blockchain.

Solution: Government should also adopt blockchain in hospitals. Blockchain has a unique combination of security and distributivity. So Government can preserve data so that they can use it for research work and other purposes.

4. Lack of Cost Reduction

Blockchain is still a costly technology. For mining, users require costly hardware and software. It involves costly GPUs for mining cryptocurrencies. To mine, each block electricity is also required. But the incentives that miners get are not satisfactory. Therefore this technology is very costly. 

Solution: Blockchain companies should focus on cost reductions since technology is advancing day by day. Also, the companies should increase the incentive so that more and more miners get engaged in the blockchain. 

5. Lack of Privacy

The information is stored in the database of Blockchain and each user has a copy of the database so that if one part of the network fails, the data remains safe so that it can be updated later. Many users prefer to keep their medical problems private. Thus it hampers an individual’s privacy. 

Solution: Small private blockchains should be used. Private Blockchains require the consent of the network administrator. So only the concerned patients can join the network.

6. Lack of Incentive

Upon successful verification of a block, miners get incentives. Blockchain provides financial independence but the incentives are not up to the mark. So users try to mine more in order to increase the amount. For example, To mine 1 bitcoin, the average time is 10 minutes, and that too if the machine is powerful. So Incentives generated are very less as compared to the hardware, and software used. 

Solution: Although incentives are less in Blockchain, companies are now developing new techniques to maximize the incentives. Many incentive mechanisms are now developed by companies.

7. Lack of Cryptocurrency Acceptance

Most doctors do not accept cryptocurrency as a mode of payment. Before the adoption of Blockchain technology, online payment has not been fully established. The cash flow still exists. Therefore a proper implementation of online payment should be adopted. Then Blockchain technology should be adopted.

Solution: Cryptocurrency should be made legal by the government and it should be kept as a mode of payment. Hospitals should also give crypto payment as a mode of payment option.

8. Lack of Cyber Security

Although Blockchain is highly secured and there is no involvement of third parties still many attacks like 51% attack, Sybil attack, etc. have become a major problem. Many hackers target users’ wallets in order to steal money. Many hackers target to increase their incentives by mining unnecessary blocks and increasing the traffic in the network.

Solution: Each user should be authenticated by the hospitals by using unique IDs so that there are no security threats. Private Blockchains should be used so that each user is verified by the network administrator. 

9. Lack of Central Healthcare

Most healthcare systems are distributed. Many hospitals are in multiple places. So maintaining a blockchain is a very hectic task.  Without a streamlined system, it would be impossible to maintain all the medical records together to adopt blockchain as a technology. For instance: A person visits a hospital ‘A’ in one location. Next time he might visit to Hospital ‘A’ but in a different location. There are two blockchains for two different locations. So accessing the previous medical records will be a challenging task.

Solution: Blockchain should be adopted by hospitals in some sections so that they can find the faults and cope with them accordingly. The networks should be distributed and each hospital should maintain a large blockchain to keep information so that they can have access to medical records if required.

10. Lack of Speed

Speed is very less in Blockchain. The processing speed takes a long, especially if the network is very large. The confirmations take too long and as a result information sharing becomes slow.

Solution: Blockchain sizes should be specified by the higher authorities. The Blockchains should neither be too big nor too small. A check on unnecessary blocks should be kept. Technicians should ensure that there are no unnecessary traffic and proper testing should be done.