A Blockchain-based Lightweight Access Control Solution in the Healthcare Sector for Developing countries: A case from Conakry

Medical data protection has always been a primary concern in the healthcare sector. As information technologies improve over the years, medical records management approaches are shifting to prominent and fully automated systems. The common issues in medical service provision within most developing countries are primarily associated with data availability among healthcare providers, doctors' referral process, privacy protection, and portals for patients to conveniently access their medical information history. Practical implications arise from these issues, such as patients' improper identification that may lead to records inconsistency across healthcare providers with weak security systems. To address these issues, Blockchain-based electronic medical records (EMRs) systems show particular benefits, providing a secured healthcare environment where involved stakeholders can collaborate. In this paper, we adopted a fit-for-purpose approach to propose a Hyperledger Fabric-based design for electronic medical records management, adaptable in developing countries using Conakry as a case study. Our approach focuses on the hypotheses of privacy protection and data accessibility among involved stakeholders. This approach presents a decentralized, immutable medical environment, where patients have easy access to their medical information across different healthcare providers in Conakry. Finally, we conducted a qualitative evaluation to illustrate the portability and efficiency of the solution.

Our design is presented to contribute to EMRs solutions adaptable in developing countries for future in-depth analyses.