보건의료분야 블록체인 기술 활용방안

Abstract

As the notion of Blockchain has been debated by many worldwide, various attempts have been made to incorporate Blockchain technology from the financial sector to the healthcare sector. Blockchain technology is now considered as a resolution to the problems of data in the field of healthcare. Current data entry system is exposed to risk of outside attack or falsification. Additionally, since medical records are owned solely by clinical sites, patients have limitations in terms of owning or utilizing one’s medical records; even worse, lack of communication among clinical sites poses a challenge for other clinics to check patient’s past medical history. However, how to utilize Blockchain technology in the field of healthcare has not been studied thoroughly, and even the rare studies are mostly done by IT professionals and consultants instead of those in the field of healthcare. Since the healthcare sector is significantly influenced by the national insurance policy and socioeconomic impacts, an international study can not be directly applied to that of Korea and requires a separate study. Therefore, this two-stepped study was conducted in Korea with a total of 38 experts from various fields and applied Delphi methods to analyze. According to the study, the first question posed is the biggest advantage of blockchain technology in application to the field of healthcare. 17 out of 38 respondents(44.74%) answered “integrity of medical information(no falsification)”. And 17 out of 38(44.74%) responded “big data” is the most beneficial for integrating blockchain in the field. 33 out of 38(86.84%) responded “patients” should have the ownership of their medical records, and 21 out of 38(55.26%) considered “patients” to be the group that will receive the most benefit from blockchain technology. 12 out of 38(31.58%) answered “patients not owning or managing their own medical records” is the most serious problem in the current healthcare system. Additionally, 19 out of 38(50%) responded positively to the role of blockchain in resolving current healthcare problems. 24 out of 38(63.16%) considered that the main restriction in application of blockchain in the field of healthcare is “strict medical information protection laws”. 14 out of 38(36.84%) chose “cannot be modified or deleted once records are posted” as the biggest challenge among the technical characteristics or limitations of Blockchain. More than 80% of participants chose “sharing medical records among clinical sites” as the most possible application of blockchain in the field of healthcare. The use of blockchain in the field of healthcare will change the working patterns of healthcare workers, and will diversify healthcare services. Blockchain is a future-oriented technology evolving in various forms and implies infinite potential. The concept of Blockchain technology may be more difficult to understand rather than the developing system itself; therefore, more healthcare professionals with insight, creativity and understanding of blockchain notions should apply blockchain in the field of healthcare. Lastly, further study should be conducted on the individualized and empirical utilization of blockchain in the field of healthcare presented in this study.