Electronic Health Record Interoperability System in Peru Using Blockchain

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3991/ijoe.v20i03.44507

Keywords:

interoperability, HCE, blockchain-FHIR, HL7, ipfs

Abstract


In Peru, there is currently no integrated electronic health record (EHR) system that can be automatically shared between healthcare facilities. This leads to increased service costs due to duplicated examinations and records, as well as additional time required to manage patients’ clinical information. One alternative for ensuring the secure interoperability of EHRs while preserving data privacy is the use of blockchain technology. However, existing works consider a pre-established format for exchanging EHRs, which is not applicable when systems have different formats, as is the case in Peru. This work proposes an architecture and a web application for exchanging EHRs in heterogeneous systems. The proposed system includes the homologation of an EHR with rapid interoperability resources for medical attention using FHIR HL7, and vice versa, to achieve interoperability. Additionally, it utilizes blockchain technology to ensure data security and privacy. The web application was tested using a case simulation to demonstrate EHR interoperability between clinics in a clear, secure, and efficient manner. In addition, a survey was conducted with 30 patients regarding adoption, and another survey was conducted with 10 doctors from a public hospital in Peru regarding usability. The results demonstrate a very high level of adoption and usability for them all. Unlike other studies, the proposal does not necessitate alterations to existing EHR systems for interoperability. In other words, the proposal presents a feasible and cost-effective alternative to addressing the EHR interoperability issue in clinics and hospitals in Peru.

Author Biographies

David Mauricio, Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas

Is a Doctor in Sciences in Engineering of Systems and Computation (1991-1994), and Master in Sciences in Applied Mathematics (1989-1991) by the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Degree in Computer Science from the National University of San Marcos. He has been a professor at the Universidade Estadual Norte Fluminense in Brazil from 1994 to 1998, and since 1998 he is a professor at the National University of San Marcos. Fields of interest: Combinatorial Optimization, Mathematical Programming, Expert Systems, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Software Engineering.

Paulo César Llanos-Colchado, Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas

He is a student of Information Systems Engineering at the Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (UPC).

Leandro Sebastián Cutipa-Salazar, Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas

He is a student of Information Systems Engineering at the Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (UPC).

Pedro Castañeda, Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas

Is a PhD in Systems Engineering, a Master's Degree in Information Technology Management from UNMSM and a Master's Degree in Business Administration (MBA) - ESAN. He leads projects of electronic brokering, software development and process improvement, using agile and traditional methodologies. He has the following certifications: Project Management Professional (PMP), Scrum Certified Developer (CSD), IBM Certified Professional in Rational Unified Process, ORACLE Certifications. Areas of Interest: Software Productivity, Business Intelligence, Machine Learning, Software Engineering.

Roberth Chuquimbalqui-Maslucán, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos

Surgeon, Master in Project Management and Social Programs, Professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos. Extensive experience in Management and Direction of Research, Development and Innovation projects. He is currently coordinator of Innovation and Business of the Center for Technological, Biomedical and Environmental Research - CITBM "First Center of Excellence of Peru" certified by CONCYTEC and linked to national companies and international centers of excellence such as the University of Washington (USA), Federal University of Minas Gerais (Brazil), National Institute of Health (INS-Ministry of Health of Peru).

Leonardo Rojas-Mezarina, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos

Surgeon from the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (UNMSM), specialist in Health Administration and Management (UPCH), Master (c) in Health Management (UPCH), RENACYT Researcher, Coordinator of the Health Information and Innovation Technologies research group and Associate Professor of the Academic Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health (UNMSM). Former General Director of the General Office of Information and Systems of the National Institute of Health. He is currently Executive Director of the Telemedicine Directorate of the Peruvian Ministry of Health and Head of the Telehealth Unit of the UNMSM.

José Luis Castillo-Sequera, Polytechnic School, University of Alcala

Received the degree in computing from the National University of San Marcos, Peru, the master’s degree in computer project management and the master’s degree in university teaching in Spain, and the Ph.D. degree in information systems, documentation, and knowledge from the University of Alcalá, Spain. He is currently a Full Professor with the Department of Computer Science, University of Alcalá (Spain). He has multiple publications at the level of high-level indexed JCR journals and is the author of books and book chapters related to the field of artificial intelligence. His research interests include information retrieval, knowledge extraction and neural network, data mining and big data and machine learning. He also leads projects of technological innovation oriented to the use of ICTs in university research groups. His research interests include business Technologies

Cover iJOE – Vol 20, No 03, 2024

Downloads

Published

2024-02-27

How to Cite

Mauricio, D., Llanos-Colchado, P. C., Cutipa-Salazar, L. S., Castañeda, P., Chuquimbalqui-Maslucán, R., Rojas-Mezarina, L. ., & Castillo-Sequera, J. L. . (2024). Electronic Health Record Interoperability System in Peru Using Blockchain. International Journal of Online and Biomedical Engineering (iJOE), 20(03), pp. 136–153. https://doi.org/10.3991/ijoe.v20i03.44507

Issue

Vol. 20 No. 03 (2024)

Section

Papers

License

Copyright (c) 2023 Pedro Castañeda, Paulo Llanos-Colchado, Leandro Cutipa-Salazar, David Mauricio, Roberth Chuquimbalqui-Maslucán, Leonardo Rojas-Mezarina, José Luis Castillo-Sequera

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

The submitting author warrants that the submission is original and that she/he is the author of the submission together with the named co-authors; to the extend the submission incorporates text passages, figures, data or other material from the work of others, the submitting author has obtained any necessary permission.
Articles in this journal are published under the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (CC-BY What does this mean?). This is to get more legal certainty about what readers can do with published articles, and thus a wider dissemination and archiving, which in turn makes publishing with this journal more valuable for you, the authors.
By submitting an article the author grants to this journal the non-exclusive right to publish it. The author retains the copyright and the publishing rights for his article without any restrictions.