With blockchain technology, the healthcare sector can have data efficiency, data access flexibility, interconnection, transparency, and security. This chapter reviews the development of blockchain technology usage, current implementation challenges of blockchain technology, and includes references for the applications of blockchain technology in healthcare. A systematic review of current status, desired status called ideal status, and the research gap of use of blockchain technology in application areas of the healthcare industry are included along with identification of possible research agendas for future research.
Top1. Introduction
The twelve underlying emerging technologies of Information Communication and Computation Technology (ICCT) including blockchain technology are considered as general-purpose technologies of the 21st century (Aithal & Aithal, 2019b). A general-purpose technology or GPT is a technology that has potential applications in multiple industries with the new methods of producing, serving, and inventing opportunities with a protracted aggregate impact. Electricity and information technology (IT) probably are the two most important GPTs until the 20th century. A GPT can be a product, a process, technology or an organisational system. Whole eras of technical progress and growth appear to be driven by a few ‘General Purpose Technologies’ (GPT's), such as the steam engine, the electric motor, and semiconductors. GPT's are characterized by pervasiveness to many industry sectors, inherent potential for technical improvements, and innovation complementarities to many applications, giving rise to increasing scale of operation. Economist Richard Lipsey and Kenneth Carlaw (Lipsey et al., 2005) suggested that there have only been 24 technologies in history that have been identified as true GPTs. They define a transforming GPT follows four criteria which are listed below (Aithal & Aithal, 2018): (1) GPT is a single, recognizable generic technology. (2) Initially, GPT has much scope for improvement but comes to be widely used across the economy. (3) GPT has many different uses in many areas to solve problems or to provide comfortability. (4) GPT creates many spill-over effects to spread its base to many sectors. General purpose technologies have the potential to reshape the economy of the world and boost productivity across all sectors and industries. Such transformations are far more than simple technical innovation, or a new discovery. However, such technologies often require a wholesale remaking of infrastructure environments, of business models, and of cultural norms. There are three fundamental features of GPTs that differentiate them from other technologies which are (1) Pervasiveness – The GPT should spread to most sectors. (2) Improvement – The GPT should get better over time and, hence, should keep lowering the costs of its users. (3) Innovation spawning – The GPT should support to invent and produce new products or processes. Blockchain technology possess each of these characteristics to some degree, and considered as a potential tool for innovations in multiple industry sectors including primary industry sector, secondary industry sector, tertiary industry sector, and quaternary industry sector (Aithal & Madhushree, 2019b) (Aithal & Madhushree, 2019a).
Blockchain is one of the undeniably clever innovations under general purpose universal technology called Information Communication and Computation Technology (ICCT) (Aithal & Aithal, 2019b). Blockchain has been implemented over a decade. Like any blockchain digital technology, recognition experiments were carried out in various industries before successful use. Each block stores the transaction information, each block is saved with a single code called “hash”. A blockchain-based system is a publicly shared digital block system (i.e., a decentralized one) in which all participant blocks are distributed geographically and linked across different network types. Blockchain networks can be segregated and permitted into two key styles as permissioned & permissionless Open-ended systems like Bitcoin and Ethereum are permissionless. They are open to the public. Any node will carry out transactions and also engage in a phase of consensus to advance the blockchain. Permissioned registered Networks, such as Hyperledger Fabric and Multichain, are aimed at consortia where limited options exist. Even though customers are permitted to request transactions, the blockchain's development is restricted to a defined community of peering nodes run by consortium members. Indian healthcare system has been one of the rapidly growing sectors with the goal of reaching more people every year.