ABSTRACT
Currently, the entire nation has been gripped by a virus known as the SARS-CoV2 or COVID-19. Due to the high transmission rate and lack of proper knowledge and management about this novel virus, the graph of infected people and mortality rate goes high. This is an alarming call for the upgrade of existing health services. The conventional healthcare system fails to manage this situation effectively. The existing health system is based on centralized control and faces undesirable interference during the data sharing process. This limits the efficiency of traditional healthcare services. A new technology termed “Blockchain” acts as a distributed database along with synchronized and verified information. Being a decentralized and distributed technology, it can be used as an amazing asset for day-to-day applications. Medical services are one of the areas with specific applications where blockchain should have an intense effect. It is prompting a wide extent of chances and potential outcomes in the existing medical care scenario. Thus this chapter will focus on the opportunities of this emerging technology in Medicare. Moreover, the chapter will also cover general challenges faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, promising use cases for blockchain technology in healthcare, prominent advantages of blockchain technology for COVID-19 pandemic, and application of blockchain technology in combating COVID-19. Though the adaptation of this technology on a mass scale won’t be easy, hence an exclusive section is dedicated to cover potential difficulties that blockchain in medical services could confront.
