Blockchain-Based Electronic Health Records in African Healthcare
A scoping review of blockchain-based electronic health record systems in African healthcare — what has been proposed, piloted and evaluated on the continent, and what the evidence actually supports.
- research
- Scoping review
- Scoping review
- Ongoing / in progress
Context
Electronic health records (EHRs) across much of Africa remain fragmented across institutions and health systems that often lack effective interoperability. As a result, a patient’s medical history can become isolated within the institution where it was created, contributing to repeated investigations, fragmented clinical context, and decisions made with incomplete information.
Blockchain has frequently been proposed as a potential solution: a shared, tamper-evident infrastructure through which patients could retain greater control over their health records while enabling secure exchange across institutions.
The proposition is compelling. But what has actually been built and evaluated?
The question
What has actually been proposed, built and evaluated for blockchain-based electronic health records in African healthcare — and what does the evidence support?
Distinguishing the demonstrated from the merely proposed is the point of doing this as a scoping review rather than a narrative one.
This review is ongoing. Findings and further details will be published here once the work is
complete.