Comparative Analysis of Blockchain-Based Platforms for Managing Electronic Health Records in the Public Healthcare System of Brazil

Abstract

This article comparatively analyzes two platforms based on Blockchain, aiming at the management of electronic health records in the public healthcare system of Brazil. The difference between the platforms primarily lies in the deployed consensus algorithm. Efficiency, availability, integrity, and confidentiality requirements are evaluated through analytical models and theoretical discussions. Among the obtained results, we highlight the following: (i) the platform with a voting-based consensus algorithm yields a more efficient system, but is more prone to service unavailability, than that of the platform deploying an intensive-compute consensus algorithm; (ii) integrity and confidentiality requirements may be satisfactorily met regardless of the consensus type. As the main contribution, this article provides valuable experimental results and theoretical subsidies, which together complement previous research and help to lay the groundwork for the fruitful development of real projects. Finally, conclusions and future work conclude this article.