Blockchain in healthcare: A systematic literature review, synthesizing framework and future research agenda
M. Agbo, Q. Mahmoud, J. Eklund
Abstract
This systematic literature review provides a comprehensive synthesis of blockchain applications in healthcare, categorizing existing research into distinct application domains such as clinical data management, pharmaceutical supply chain, and insurance. The authors perform a rigorous evaluation of the state of the art, mapping current academic discourse to a structured framework that identifies both the technical capabilities and the socio-technical limitations of implementing distributed ledger technology (DLT) in medical settings. By analyzing the landscape of peer-reviewed literature, the study highlights a prevailing trend toward research in data integrity and supply chain transparency. The authors conclude by articulating an evidence-based research agenda that prioritizes scalability, cross-institutional interoperability, and the alignment of DLT architectures with healthcare-specific regulations such as HIPAA and GDPR. This work is essential for researchers aiming to understand the current research trajectory and the gaps that remain between theoretical proposals and large-scale deployment.
Key Findings
- 1Existing research is heavily concentrated on data provenance and pharmaceutical supply chain integrity.
- 2A lack of standardized governance models remains a primary hurdle for widespread blockchain adoption.
- 3Scalability and regulatory compliance are the most critical challenges identified across studies.
- 4Systematic synthesis suggests a shift toward hybrid architectures that combine public and private blockchain features.
Topics
Citation
BibTeX
@misc{blockchainin2020,
title = {Blockchain in healthcare: A systematic literature review, synthesizing framework and future research agenda},
author = {M. Agbo and Q. Mahmoud and J. Eklund},
year = {2020},
howpublished = {\url{https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166361520305248}},
}Knowledge Explorer
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