Blockchain Design Tradeoffs in Healthcare Data Sharing

Healthcare organizations are exploring blockchain to address fragmentation, trust, and auditability in sensitive data exchange. The article outlines where distributed ledgers can improve interoperability, data integrity, and traceability across clinical systems, pharma supply chains, and research ecosystems, while also highlighting constraints such as scalability, privacy, and regulatory alignment. It contrasts public, private, and consortium models, emphasizing that architecture selection must reflect data sensitivity and governance requirements. For technology leaders, the key decision is not adoption itself, but where blockchain meaningfully improves trust boundaries versus adding operational complexity.