OpenPharma Blockchain on FHIR: An Interoperable Solution for Read-Only Health Records Exchange through Blockchain and Biometrics

Abstract

The healthcare system in the United States is unique. From payor to provider, patients have the freedom of choice. This creates a complicated and profitable paradigm of care. Legislation defines government expectations of data exchange; however, the methods are left to the discretion of the stakeholders. Today, devices and programs are not built to unified standards, thus they do not share data easily. This communication between software is known as interoperability. We address the health data interoperability by leveraging Fast Health Interoperable Resource (FHIR) standard, a viewer of FHIR called OpenPharma, and Blockchain technology. Our proof of concept, called “OpenPharma Blockchain on FHIR” (OBF), is interoperable by design and grants clinicians access to patient records using a combination of data standards, distributed applications, patient-driven identity management, and the Ethereum blockchain. OBF is a trustless, secure, decentralized, and vendor-independent method for information exchange. It is easy to implement and places the control of records with the patients.