Blockchain-Integrated Internet-of-Things Architecture in Privacy Preserving for Large-Scale Healthcare Supply Chain Data

Introduction

The coronavirus pandemic (simply known as COVID-19) is placing enormous strain on the global health care industry’s workforce, infrastructure, supply chain and exposing social inequalities in healthcare. The current pandemic catalyzes change across the healthcare ecosystem and provokes private and public collaboration to quickly adapt and innovate service provision. Several foundational changes are emerging from and aggravated by coronavirus’s spread around the world. Examples include patients’ (or consumers’) growing involvement in healthcare-related decision-making, quick endorsement of web-based healthcare services, and other forms of digital innovation practice.

Patients are steering and speeding up the pace of change in the healthcare industry. Their needs and aims are orchestrating innovation in healthcare-related products and services. Their preferences are guiding the development of seamless digitally enabled and on-demand connectivity of medics-patient communications. Their requirements guide the transition to patient-centric care delivery for different socio-economic groups in some parts of the world. Their expectations drive industry stakeholders to elevate a transactional patient healthcare encounter into a holistic human heath experience.

The long-held view that healthcare is “sick care” for the physical body includes patients' minds and spirits. Focus shifting from healthcare to health and well-being and providers should integrate this shift into the design of their service offering and delivery channels and locations. In addition, the patient will expect care to be available when and how it is most valuable and secure for them. It includes virtual care, at-home prescription and medicine delivery for elderly citizens, remote assessment (e.g., digital diagnostic and decision support), self-service educational applications, and social support.

Consequently, healthcare organizations started investing in replacing foundational structures, technologies, business process operational techniques. Digital transformation is helping individual healthcare organizations and the broader health ecosystem improve working methods, enhance access to service provisions, and deliver a more effective patient and clinician experience. Five important aspects of computing are playing increasingly pivotal roles around the globe – the Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain technology, service-oriented computing (or cloud computing), artificial intelligence (e.g., AI-based techniques), and virtual care delivery.

Along with technological advancement, healthcare service provision is changing rapidly. The IoT paradigm has revolutionized the healthcare industry. The IoT technology can help collect valuable patient and medication data, automate workflows, provide insights on disease symptoms and trends, and facilitate remote patient care. Even though the health problems are rising, the world has not had enough medical professionals to tackle society’s health problems.

However, academics and practitioners are spreading the goodwill message of Society 5.0. This vision of an emerging society is characterized as a “Creative Society” enabled by digital transformation. Digital transformation, especially with AI and robotics, provides augmented abilities to people, enabling them to pursue their dreams, big or small, which shall contribute to the global agenda, including sustainability and social inclusions, and another breakthrough to push humans for a better future. Society 5.0 is an initiative. First, mother earth is facing a massive tide of change against a backdrop of rapidly advancing innovation in digital technologies (e.g., AI, IoT, robotics, and blockchains), as well as biotechnologies. It will go beyond mere technological innovation to trigger revolutionary changes in industries and healthcare applications.

This way, having enough facilities to offer in-house treatment is currently under review from the healthcare society to remove the barriers of significant problems. It has gained the attention of researchers on IoT technology, and it is the most promising solution one can have because, with IoT, patients can manage their health problems and get help in emergency cases. On the other hand, doctors can manage and consult patients quickly. Over these years, several advanced IoT applications have been developed to support patients and healthcare staff. IoT technology-based healthcare improves existing features by supporting patient management, medical records management, medical emergency management, patient treatment management, and other functionalities, thus increasing healthcare information technology (IT) based applications.