A computer-implemented method for accessing a medical record of a patient using a distributed ledger, the method comprising: identifying a command from a first user to access a medical record of a patient registered on a distributed computing network, wherein each node in the distributed computing network separately maintains a respective instance of a distributed ledger that stores information about medical records for a population of patients; in response to identifying the command to access the medical record of the patient, calling a first smart contract linked to the first user to obtain access for the first user to the medical record of the patient, wherein a smart contract is a computer program which is stored on the distributed ledger and is capable of performing operations related to medical record management; generating, with the first smart contract, a request to access the medical record of the patient; calling a rights manager smart contract using the first smart contract and checking, by the rights manager smart contract, that the first user has a right to access the medical record of the patient; if the rights manager smart contract validates the request, using the first smart contract to call a smart contract that is linked to an account of the patient; executing, in response to the call from the first smart contract, the patient's smart contract in response to the call from the first smart contact and generating a transaction that is sent to the first smart contract to provide the first user with access to the requested medical record; recording, in the distributed ledger at each node in the distributed computing network, one or more transactions that occurred as a result of the request to access to the medical record of the patient; calling by the first user the first smart contract to access the medical record of the patient, wherein the method further comprises: calling, by the rights manager smart contract, a fraud detection smart contract 712 to log transactions; listening for, and storing reports from, the rights manager smart contract by the fraud detection smart contract about abnormal activity; triggering, by the fraud detection smart contract, an event that meets a threshold and indicates possible fraud or abnormal activity, by identifying occurrences of repeated failed attempts to access one or more patients' medical records, attempts to double-fill pharmaceutical prescriptions or suspicious doctor behavior; and notifying an administrator or other user on the distributed computing network about the event. identifying a command from a first user to access a medical record of a patient registered on a distributed computing network, wherein each node in the distributed computing network separately maintains a respective instance of a distributed ledger that stores information about medical records for a population of patients; in response to identifying the command to access the medical record of the patient, calling a first smart contract linked to the first user to obtain access for the first user to the medical record of the patient, wherein a smart contract is a computer program which is stored on the distributed ledger and is capable of performing operations related to medical record management; generating, with the first smart contract, a request to access the medical record of the patient; calling a rights manager smart contract using the first smart contract and checking, by the rights manager smart contract, that the first user has a right to access the medical record of the patient; if the rights manager smart contract validates the request, using the first smart contract to call a smart contract that is linked to an account of the patient; executing, in response to the call from the first smart contract, the patient's smart contract in response to the call from the first smart contact and generating a transaction that is sent to the first smart contract to provide the first user with access to the requested medical record; recording, in the distributed ledger at each node in the distributed computing network, one or more transactions that occurred as a result of the request to access to the medical record of the patient; calling by the first user the first smart contract to access the medical record of the patient, calling, by the rights manager smart contract, a fraud detection smart contract 712 to log transactions; listening for, and storing reports from, the rights manager smart contract by the fraud detection smart contract about abnormal activity; triggering, by the fraud detection smart contract, an event that meets a threshold and indicates possible fraud or abnormal activity, by identifying occurrences of repeated failed attempts to access one or more patients' medical records, attempts to double-fill pharmaceutical prescriptions or suspicious doctor behavior; and notifying an administrator or other user on the distributed computing network about the event.