Blockchain-Powered Healthcare Record Management System

Abstract

The rapid growth of digital healthcare systems has improved the accessibility and storage of medical records but has also raised significant concerns regarding security, privacy, transparency, unauthorized access, and data manipulation due to reliance on centralized databases vulnerable to cyberattacks and single-point failures. To address these challenges, this paper proposes a blockchain-based healthcare record management system designed to provide secure, decentralized, and patient-centric management of medical data using blockchain technology and smart contracts. The proposed system enables tamper-resistant storage, transparent auditing, and controlled access, allowing patients to maintain ownership of their medical records while granting or revoking permissions to healthcare providers through smart-contract-based authorization. Authorized doctors can securely access and update patient information, with every transaction permanently recorded on the blockchain to ensure integrity and traceability. By integrating a web-based interface, backend services, decentralized storage, encryption mechanisms, and blockchain infrastructure, the system enhances reliability, accountability, privacy, and trust in healthcare data management while preventing unauthorized modifications and ensuring usability for both patients and healthcare professionals.

Introduction

The literature survey shows that existing research supports blockchain’s benefits in improving privacy and security in healthcare but notes limitations like scalability and real-world implementation challenges. The problem statement emphasizes vulnerabilities in current systems and the need for a more secure and patient-centric solution.

The objectives focus on building a tamper-proof system that ensures data integrity, decentralization, secure storage, transparent access control, and reduced risk of cyber threats.

The proposed system integrates blockchain, smart contracts, encryption, and decentralized storage (like IPFS) to securely manage medical records. It allows patients to control access, while doctors can only view or update data with proper authorization.

Finally, the system architecture is layered into a user interface, backend services, smart contracts, blockchain network, and decentralized storage

Conclusion

The proposed blockchain-based healthcare record management system successfully demonstrates the effectiveness of blockchain technology in providing a secure, transparent, and patient-centric solution for managing medical records. By integrating blockchain, smart contracts, decentralized storage, and a user-friendly interface, the system addresses major challenges such as unauthorized access, data tampering, lack of transparency, and centralized system failures. The implementation ensures secure medical record storage, patient-controlled access permissions, immutable audit logs, and reliable healthcare data management. Overall, the system improves security, privacy, integrity, and trust in healthcare data management while providing a scalable foundation for future real-world deployment. The results confirm that blockchain technology can significantly enhance transparency and accountability in digital healthcare systems.

References

[1] H. Treiblmaier et al., “Harnessing Blockchain to Transform Healthcare Data Management: A Comprehensive Research Agenda,” Journal of Medical Internet Research, vol. 26, 2024. [2] V. Bidve et al., “Patient Data Management Using Blockchain Technology,” Indonesian Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 1021–1029, 2023. [3] H. Saeed et al., “Blockchain Technology in Healthcare: A Systematic Review,” IEEE Access, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 389–412, 2022. [4] A. Haleem et al., “Blockchain Technology Applications in Healthcare: An Overview,” Journal of Industrial Integration and Management, vol. 10, pp. 12345–12360, 2021. [5] The Institution of Engineering and Technology, “Blockchain in Healthcare,” IET Digital Library, London, UK, 2020. [6] S. Azaria et al., “Blockchain for Healthcare: Securing Patient Data and Enabling Trusted AI,” in Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Blockchain, pp. 1–8, 2020. [7] V. Bidve et al., “Patient Data Management Using Blockchain (Ethereum-Based Prototype),” International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications, vol. 11, no. 9, pp. 455–462, 2020. [8] A. Ekblaw et al., “A Case Study for Blockchain in Healthcare (MedRec),” MIT Media Lab White Paper, Cambridge, MA, USA, 2020. [9] M. Mettler, “Blockchain Technology in Healthcare: The Revolution Starts Here,” in Proceedings of the IEEE 18th International Conference on e-Health Networking, Applications and Services (Healthcom), Munich, Germany, pp. 1–3, 2016. [10] X. Yue, H. Wang, D. Jin, M. Li, and W. Jiang, “Healthcare Data Gateways: Found Healthcare Intelligence on Blockchain with Novel Privacy Risk Control,” Journal of Medical Systems, vol. 40, no. 10, pp. 1–8, 2016.

Copyright

Copyright © 2026 Mrs. Aruna R, Piyush Priy, Pooja Kumari, Prajwal G, Rakshith C. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.