Welcome to the Blockchain for Healthcare research project website

What real value can Blockchain offer to the healthcare sector?

Blockchain technologies enable the creation of a digital database which is rendered extremely secure through its reliance on mathematical consensus achieved by the operation of a distributed network of computers which store identical copies of the database. In this way, Blockchain technologies provide the foundation for trust between strangers without the need for a trusted third-party intermediary to guarantee the security of transactions.

Accordingly, many believe that these technologies will provide a powerful vehicle for bringing about major improvements in operational efficiency, security and trust across a wide range of sectors and industries, including healthcare.  On the other hand, it is difficult to deny that much of the current enthusiasm for Blockchain is little more than hype, with many sceptics doubting the capacity of these technologies to match what they consider to be over-inflated expectations.

What real value can this technology offer to the healthcare sector? This is the primary question which the Blockchain for Healthcare research project seeks to answer.

The aim of this project is to consider the opportunities, risks and challenges in utilising Blockchain in healthcare

Led by Professor Karen Yeung, Interdisciplinary Professorial Fellow in Law, Ethics and Informatics at the University of Birmingham, and funded by the Wellcome Trust, the aim of this project is to consider the implications for utilising Blockchain in healthcare, identifying, mapping and critically examining their legal, ethical, technical, and governance opportunities, risks and challenges. In so doing, this project will thereby begin to explore whether, and under what conditions, these technologies might be developed whilst remaining faithful to important ethical, legal and constitutional values.