BLOCKCHAIN AND ITS APPLICATIONS

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Blockchain Image


In 1999, Nobel Prize-Winning economist Milton Friedman said,

“the one thing that’s missing is a reliable e-cash, whereby on the internet you can transfer funds from A to B without A knowing B or B knowing A”

and that “it would be one of the major forces for reducing the role of government.”

10 years later, the Bitcoin blockchain launched intending to become the future of money.


In 2008, A document was published online called ‘Bitcoin: a peer-to-peer electronic cash system’.The document outlines how to build a digital currency that is secure and transparent without a bank or central body. It’s written by an unknown person called ‘Satoshi Nakamoto’.

In 2009, Satoshi launched Bitcoin in January 2009 as an alternative to the current financial system and centers of power.

Around 2014, technologists and investors shifted their focus from Bitcoin to the blockchain, bitcoin’s underlying technology. Though Bitcoin and blockchain are often referred to interchangeably, that’s incorrect. Bitcoin is built on a version of a blockchain. A blockchain is an open, decentralized ledger that can record transactions between two parties efficiently and in a verifiable and permanent way without the need for a central authority. The key qualities of this distributed ledger are that it is time-stamped, transparent (anyone can see the ledger of transactions), and decentralized (the ledger exists on multiple computers, often referred to as nodes).

Blockchain = Block + Chain = list of blocks

Blockchain Models 

As mentioned, a Blockchain is a distributed network open to anyone. This definition usually relates to a particular model known as permission-less or public. In the public model, any participant can join and leave at will because no rule restricts access and interaction. Therefore, the data stored in a public Blockchain (i.e., Bitcoin or Ethereum) is accessible by anyone unless encryption and smart contract logic are employed. Besides the public model, Blockchain can also be employed in a restricted network where the participants’ identities are known. This restricted model is usually referred to as permissioned or consortium.


Hyperledger Composer 

Hyperledger Composer is an extensive, open development toolset and framework to make developing blockchain applications easier. It was hosted by The Linux Foundation, the fastest-growing project in LF history in 2015 to promote cross-industry collaboration.


Model of Hyperledger 

It consists of four things: 

• Participants that represent the actors of our system, but also provide granular access to it (when you connect to the Blockchain you will be identified as one of the actors on the system). 

• Assets which are the entities stored on the chain. 

• Transactions which are the operations on the assets. 

• Events that can be emitted during transactions for your applications to listen on. 



Electronic Health Record  (application)

To implement a Blockchain-based Electronic Health Records (EHRs) System using Hyperledger Composer. 

To collect and store the records of Patients, Doctors, Chemists, and Appointments, etc. in a distributed ledger called Blockchain will be used.

It will implement four functions which are listed below: 

  1. Confirm Appointment: A patient must be able to query for a free appointment time of the doctor to get himself diagnosed. 

  2. Consult: After the appointment, a prescription must be generated with the list of prescribed medicines and tests. 

  3. Buy Medicine: A patient must be able to buy medicines from a chemist and a receipt must get generated to record the money paid. 

  4. Buy Test: A patient must be able to get his body examined by the pathology lab instructor by performing the tests prescribed to him by the doctor.


Advantages of EHRs

  • Providing accurate, up-to-date, and complete information about patients at the point of care
  • Enabling quick access to patient records for more coordinated, efficient care
  • Securely sharing electronic information with patients and other clinicians
  • Helping providers more effectively diagnose patients, reduce medical errors, and provide safer care
  • Improving patient and provider interaction and communication, as well as health care convenience
  • Enabling safer, more reliable prescribing
  • Helping promote legible, complete documentation and accurate, streamlined coding and billing
  • Enhancing privacy and security of patient data
  • Helping providers improve productivity and work-life balance
  • Enabling providers to improve efficiency and meet their business goals
  • Reducing costs through decreased paperwork, improved safety, reduced duplication of testing, and improved health.

References

https://www.healthit.gov/faq/what-are-advantages-electronic-health-records

https://hyperledger.github.io/composer/latest/introduction/introduction.html



Shreya Goel (2019-2023)

Computer Science Department
KIET Group of Institutions
Location: Monthly Wrap KIET Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh 201206, India

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