Distributed Off-Chain Storage of Patient Diagnostic Reports in Healthcare System Using IPFS and Blockchain

The healthcare industry electronically maintains medical data which includes patients' information such as patients' personal information, diagnostic reports, and doctor prescriptions. However, the centralized storage model is currently used for storing such sensitive information. One main disadvantage of the centralized model is the difficulty in preserving user privacy. Threats relating to user (patient) privacy include unauthorized access of critical information such as identity details and diseases from which a patient is suffering, and misuse of patients' data and their medical reports. To address this issue, we propose a distributed off-chain storage of medical data using IPFS (Interplanetary File System) and blockchain technology. The proposed framework while preserving patient privacy facilitates easy access of medical data by authorized entities such as healthcare providers (e.g., doctors and nurses). Moreover, it achieves consistency, integrity, and availability.