Adoption of Blockchain Technology in Healthcare Supply Chain Management: A Review

Nazatul Niesya, Md Shohel Sayeed

Abstract


The healthcare supply chain encounters difficulties with transparency, efficiency, and security, which have an impact on patient safety and the quality of treatment concerning the items involved. The use of blockchain technology, which has intrinsic characteristics such as confidentiality, transparency, and traceability, offers a possible resolution to tackle these problems. This paper aims to comprehensively review the adoption of blockchain technology in healthcare supply chain management, particularly in response to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. It investigates the significance of efficient and transparent healthcare supply chains, focusing on blockchain's application in vaccine distribution, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), drugs, medical devices and blood products. The analysis critically evaluates research papers proposing innovative blockchain-powered solutions, discussing their benefits, challenges, and the need for further research. Findings highlight blockchain's potential in enhancing vaccine traceability, preventing counterfeit vaccines, and ensuring equitable access to immunization. It also outlines blockchain's role in real-time tracking of PPE shipments, secure distribution of medical devices, managing blood products, and combating counterfeit drugs. The paper also emphasizes the prevalence of consortium-based and public blockchain implementations and the importance of smart contracts while advocating for addressing scalability and technological challenges. This review offers a critical assessment of blockchain's potential in fortifying healthcare supply chains during crises, underscoring the need for ongoing research and development to overcome implementation limitations.

 

Doi: 10.28991/HIJ-2024-05-04-019

Full Text: PDF


Keywords


Blockchain Technology; Supply Chain; Healthcare; Medical Products and Tools; Transparency; Traceability; Security.

References


Jarrett, S., Wilmansyah, T., Bramanti, Y., Alitamsar, H., Alamsyah, D., Krishnamurthy, K. R., Yang, L., & Pagliusi, S. (2020). The role of manufacturers in the implementation of global traceability standards in the supply chain to combat vaccine counterfeiting and enhance safety monitoring. Vaccine, 38(52), 8318–8325. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2020.11.011.

Cui, L., Xiao, Z., Chen, F., Dai, H., & Li, J. (2023). Protecting Vaccine Safety: An Improved, Blockchain-Based, Storage-Efficient Scheme. IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics, 53(6), 3588–3598. doi:10.1109/TCYB.2022.3163743.

Rosa, B. M. G., Anastasova, S., & Yang, G. Z. (2023). NFC-Powered Implantable Device for On-Body Parameters Monitoring With Secure Data Exchange Link to a Medical Blockchain Type of Network. IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics, 53(1), 31–43. doi:10.1109/TCYB.2021.3088711.

Zheng, W., Wang, K., & Wang, F. Y. (2021). GAN-Based Key Secret-Sharing Scheme in Blockchain. IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics, 51(1), 393–404. doi:10.1109/TCYB.2019.2963138.

Tang, C., Li, C., Yu, X., Zheng, Z., & Chen, Z. (2020). Cooperative Mining in Blockchain Networks with Zero-Determinant Strategies. IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics, 50(10), 4544–4549. doi:10.1109/TCYB.2019.2915253.

Omar, I. A., Debe, M., Jayaraman, R., Salah, K., Omar, M., & Arshad, J. (2022). Blockchain-based Supply Chain Traceability for COVID-19 personal protective equipment. Computers and Industrial Engineering, 167. doi:10.1016/j.cie.2022.107995.

Park, C. Y., Kim, K., Roth, S., Beck, S., Kang, J. W., & Tayag, M. C. (2020). Global shortage of personal protective equipment amid COVID-19: supply chains, bottlenecks, and policy implications. Future of Regional Cooperation in Asia and the Pacific, 442.

Omar, I. A., Jayaraman, R., Salah, K., Simsekler, M. C. E., Yaqoob, I., & Ellahham, S. (2020). Ensuring protocol compliance and data transparency in clinical trials using Blockchain smart contracts. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 20(1), 224. doi:10.1186/s12874-020-01109-5.

Nugent, T., Upton, D., & Cimpoesu, M. (2016). Improving data transparency in clinical trials using blockchain smart contracts. F1000Research, 5. doi:10.12688/f1000research.9756.1.

Trong, P. N., Vo, H. K., Huong, L. H., Gia, K. H., Dang, K. T., Van, H. Le, Huu, N. H., Huyen, T. N., Nguyen, T. A., Phu, L. V. C., Quoc, D. N. T., Khanh, B. Le, & Tuan, K. Le. (2022). Blood and Product-Chain: Blood and its Products Supply Chain Management based on Blockchain Approach. International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications, 13(11), 743–750. doi:10.14569/IJACSA.2022.0131186.

Humayun, M., Jhanjhi, N. Z., Niazi, M., Amsaad, F., & Masood, I. (2022). Securing Drug Distribution Systems from Tampering Using Blockchain. Electronics (Switzerland), 11(8), 1195. doi:10.3390/electronics11081195.

Alkhader, W., Salah, K., Sleptchenko, A., Jayaraman, R., Yaqoob, I., & Omar, M. (2021). Blockchain-Based Decentralized Digital Manufacturing and Supply for COVID-19 Medical Devices and Supplies. IEEE Access, 9, 137923–137940. doi:10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3118085.

Mani, V., Prakash, M., & Lai, W. C. (2022). Cloud-based blockchain technology to identify counterfeits. Journal of Cloud Computing, 11(1), 67. doi:10.1186/s13677-022-00341-2.

Uddin, M., Salah, K., Jayaraman, R., Pesic, S., & Ellahham, S. (2021). Blockchain for drug traceability: Architectures and open challenges. Health Informatics Journal, 27(2), 1–15. doi:10.1177/14604582211011228.

Waltonchain. (2024). Waltonchain Online. Available online: https://www.waltonchain.org/#/en. (accessed November 2024).

Falco, G., Li, C., Fedorov, P., Caldera, C., Arora, R., & Jackson, K. (2019). NeuroMesh: IoT security enabled by a blockchain powered botnet vaccine. ACM International Conference Proceeding Series, Part F148162, 1–6. doi:10.1145/3312614.3312615.

Peng, S., Hu, X., Zhang, J., Xie, X., Long, C., Tian, Z., & Jiang, H. (2020). An Efficient Double-Layer Blockchain Method for Vaccine Production Supervision. IEEE Transactions on Nanobioscience, 19(3), 579–587. doi:10.1109/TNB.2020.2999637.

Yong, B., Shen, J., Liu, X., Li, F., Chen, H., & Zhou, Q. (2020). An intelligent blockchain-based system for safe vaccine supply and supervision. International Journal of Information Management, 52. doi:10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2019.10.009.

Cui, L., Xiao, Z., Wang, J., Chen, F., Pan, Y., Dai, H., & Qin, J. (2021). Improving Vaccine Safety Using Blockchain. ACM Transactions on Internet Technology, 21(2), 1–24. doi:10.1145/3388446.

Xiao, Z. (2024). Source Code for Performance Evaluation. Github, California, United States. Available online: https://github.com/xiaozhe-szu/BBVSPS. (accessed November 2024).

Dwyer, J. T., Coates, P. M., & Smith, M. J. (2018). Dietary supplements: Regulatory challenges and research resources. Nutrients, 10(1), 41. doi:10.3390/nu10010041.

Kumar, R., & Tripathi, R. (2019). Traceability of counterfeit medicine supply chain through Blockchain. 2019 11th International Conference on Communication Systems and Networks, COMSNETS 2019, 568–570. doi:10.1109/COMSNETS.2019.8711418.

Hasan, H., AlHadhrami, E., AlDhaheri, A., Salah, K., & Jayaraman, R. (2019). Smart contract-based approach for efficient shipment management. Computers and Industrial Engineering, 136, 149–159. doi:10.1016/j.cie.2019.07.022.

Huang, Y., Wu, J., & Long, C. (2018). Drugledger: A practical blockchain system for drug traceability and regulation. Proceedings - 2018 International Congress on Cybermatics: 2018 IEEE Conferences on Internet of Things, Green Computing and Communications, Cyber, Physical and Social Computing, Smart Data, Blockchain, Computer and Information Technology, IThings/GreenCom/CPSCom/SmartData/Blockchain/CIT 2018, 1137–1144. doi:10.1109/Cybermatics_2018.2018.00206.

Haq, I., & Muselemu, O. (2018). Blockchain Technology in Pharmaceutical Industry to Prevent Counterfeit Drugs. International Journal of Computer Applications, 180(25), 8–12. doi:10.5120/ijca2018916579.

M R, L., Ahmed M N, S., & Khan, S. (2021). Block Chain Based Supply Chain Management for Counterfeit Drugs in Pharmaceutical Industry. International Journal of Scientific Research in Computer Science, Engineering and Information Technology, 7(1), 100–108. doi:10.32628/cseit217122.

Uddin, M. (2021). Blockchain Medledger: Hyperledger fabric enabled drug traceability system for counterfeit drugs in pharmaceutical industry. International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 597. doi:10.1016/j.ijpharm.2021.120235.

Li, P., Nelson, S. D., Malin, B. A., & Chen, Y. (2019). DMMS: A Decentralized Blockchain Ledger for the Management of Medication Histories. Blockchain in Healthcare Today, 2, 1–15. doi:10.30953/bhty.v2.38.

Jamil, F., Hang, L., Kim, K. H., & Kim, D. H. (2019). A novel medical blockchain model for drug supply chain integrity management in a smart hospital. Electronics (Switzerland), 8(5), 505. doi:10.3390/electronics8050505.

Humayun, M. (2020). Role of emerging IoT big data and cloud computing for real time application. International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications, 11(4), 494–506. doi:10.14569/IJACSA.2020.0110466.

Fernando, E., Meyliana, M., Warnars, H. L. H. S., Abdurachman, E., & Surjandy, S. (2021). Blockchain Technology-Based Good Distribution Practice Model of Pharmacy Industry in Indonesia. Advances in Science, Technology and Engineering Systems Journal, 6(2), 267–273. doi:10.25046/aj060230.

Siyal, A. A., Junejo, A. Z., Zawish, M., Ahmed, K., Khalil, A., & Soursou, G. (2019). Applications of blockchain technology in medicine and healthcare: Challenges and future perspectives. Cryptography, 3(1), 1–16. doi:10.3390/cryptography3010003.

Rana, S. (2020). Rise of Counterfeit PPE in India amid COVID-19. ICLG.Com. Available online: https://iclg.com/briefing/13315-rise-of-counterfeit-ppe-in-india-amid-covid-19 (accessed on November 2024).

Lagasse, J. (2020). Healthcare industry is grappling with the emergence of counterfeit PPE in the COVID-19 battle. Healthcare Finance. Available online: https://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/healthcare-industry-grappling-emergence-counterfeit-ppe-covid-19-battle (accessed on November 2024).

Gomasta, S. S., Dhali, A., Tahlil, T., Anwar, M. M., & Ali, A. B. M. S. (2023). PharmaChain: Blockchain-based drug supply chain provenance verification system. Heliyon, 9(7), e17957. doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e17957.

Helo, P., & Hao, Y. (2019). Blockchains in operations and supply chains: A model and reference implementation. Computers and Industrial Engineering, 136, 242–251. doi:10.1016/j.cie.2019.07.023.

Zutshi, A., Grilo, A., & Nodehi, T. (2021). The value proposition of blockchain technologies and its impact on Digital Platforms. Computers and Industrial Engineering, 155. doi:10.1016/j.cie.2021.107187.

Benet, J. (2014). Ipfs-content addressed, versioned, P2P file system. arXiv preprint arXiv:1407.3561.

Agrawal, T. K., Kumar, V., Pal, R., Wang, L., & Chen, Y. (2021). Blockchain-based framework for supply chain traceability: A case example of textile and clothing industry. Computers and Industrial Engineering, 154. doi:10.1016/j.cie.2021.107130.

Parizi, R. M., Amritraj, & Dehghantanha, A. (2018). Smart contract programming languages on blockchains: An empirical evaluation of usability and security. Lecture Notes in Computer Science (Including Subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics), 10974 LNCS, 75–91. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-94478-4_6.

Hasan, H. R., Salah, K., Jayaraman, R., Arshad, J., Yaqoob, I., Omar, M., & Ellahham, S. (2020). Blockchain-Based Solution for COVID-19 Digital Medical Passports and Immunity Certificates. IEEE Access, 8, 222093–222108. doi:10.1109/ACCESS.2020.3043350.

Yaqoob, I., Salah, K., Jayaraman, R., & Al-Hammadi, Y. (2022). Blockchain for healthcare data management: opportunities, challenges, and future recommendations. Neural Computing and Applications, 34(14), 11475–11490. doi:10.1007/s00521-020-05519-w.

Wierzbicki, J., Nowacki, M., Chrzanowska, M., Matkowski, R., Ziętek, M., Nowacka, K., Maciejczyk, A., & Pawlak-Adamska, E. (2020). Additive manufacturing technologies enabling rapid and interventional production of protective face shields and masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. Advances in Clinical and Experimental Medicine, 29(9), 1021–1028. doi:10.17219/ACEM/126296.

Akunyili, D. (2007). Fake and counterfeit drugs in the health sector: The role of medical doctors. Annals of Ibadan Postgraduate Medicine, 2(2), 19–23. doi:10.4314/aipm.v2i2.39094.

HRF. (2014). 20 Shocking Counterfeit Drugs Statistics. Health Research Funding. Available online: http://healthresearchfunding.org/20-shocking-counterfeit-drugs-statistics/ (accessed on November 2024).

Swan, M. (2015). Blockchain: Blueprint for a new economy. Climate Change 2013 - The Physical Science Basis. Sebastopol, United States.

Mani, V., Manickam, P., Alotaibi, Y., Alghamdi, S., & Khalaf, O. I. (2021). Hyperledger healthchain: Patient-centric IPFS-based storage of health records. Electronics (Switzerland), 10(23), 3003. doi:10.3390/electronics10233003.

Vinodhini, M., & Prakash, M. (2021). A patient-centric doctor referral model based on hyperledger chaincode. CSITSS 2021 - 2021 5th International Conference on Computational Systems and Information Technology for Sustainable Solutions, Proceedings, 1–5. doi:10.1109/CSITSS54238.2021.9683481.

Mani, V., Kavitha, C., Band, S. S., Mosavi, A., Hollins, P., & Palanisamy, S. (2022). A Recommendation System Based on AI for Storing Block Data in the Electronic Health Repository. Frontiers in Public Health, 9, 831404. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2021.831404.

Hyperledger (2020). "Hyperledger/Fabric," Github, California, United States. Available online: github.com/hyperledger/fabric. (accessed on May 2024).

. S. A. A. (2016). Blockchain Ready Manufacturing Supply Chain Using Distributed Ledger. International Journal of Research in Engineering and Technology, 05(09), 1–10. doi:10.15623/ijret.2016.0509001.

Alonso-Rorís, V. M., Álvarez-Sabucedo, L., Santos-Gago, J. M., & Ramos‐Merino, M. (2016). Towards a cost-effective and reusable traceability system. A semantic approach. Computers in Industry, 83, 1–11. doi:10.1016/j.compind.2016.08.003.

Barua, M., Liang, X., Lu, R., & Shen, X. (2011). ESPAC: Enabling security and patient-centric access control for e-health in cloud computing. International Journal of Security and Networks, 6(2–3), 67–76. doi:10.1504/IJSN.2011.043666.

Kim, S., & Kim, D. (2018). Design of an innovative blood cold chain management system using blockchain technologies. ICIC Express Letters, Part B: Applications, 9(10), 1067–1073. doi:10.24507/icicelb.09.10.1067.

Lakshminarayanan, S., Kumar, P. N., & Dhanya, N. M. (2020). Implementation of Blockchain-Based Blood Donation Framework. IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology, 578, 276–290. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-63467-4_22.

Le, H. T., Nguyen, T. T. L., Nguyen, T. A., Ha, X. S., & Duong-Trung, N. (2022). BloodChain: A Blood Donation Network Managed by Blockchain Technologies. Network, 2(1), 21–35. doi:10.3390/network2010002.

Son, H. X., & Hoang, N. M. (2019). A novel attribute-based access control system for fine-grained privacy protection. ACM International Conference Proceeding Series, 76–80. doi:10.1145/3309074.3309091.

Du, M., Chen, Q., Xiao, J., Yang, H., & Ma, X. (2020). Supply Chain Finance Innovation Using Blockchain. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 67(4), 1045–1058. doi:10.1109/TEM.2020.2971858.

Clark, F. (2015). Rise in online pharmacies sees counterfeit drugs go global. The Lancet, 386(10001), 1327–1328. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(15)00394-3.

PSI. (2024). Pharmaceutical Security Institute Website, "Incident trends," 2002. Available online: www.psi-inc.org/incident-trends (accessed on November 2024).

Parker, R., & Sommer, M. (2010). Routledge handbook of global public health. In Routledge Handbook of Global Public Health. Routledge, New York, United States. doi:10.4324/9780203832721.

Plotnikov, V., & Kuznetsova, V. (2018). The Prospects for the Use of Digital Technology “blockchain” in the Pharmaceutical Market. MATEC Web of Conferences, 193, 2029. doi:10.1051/matecconf/201819302029.

Gorenflo, C., Lee, S., Golab, L., & Keshav, S. (2020). FastFabric: Scaling hyperledger fabric to 20 000 transactions per second. International Journal of Network Management, 30(5), 455–463. doi:10.1002/nem.2099.

Besu. (2019). Hyperledger Besu Enterprise Ethereum Client. Hyperledger Besu Community, Besu. Available online: https://besu.hyperledger.org/en/stable/ (accessed on November 2024).

Benatia, M. A., Remadna, A., Baudry, D., Halftermeyer, P., & Delalin, H. (2018). Qr-code enabled product traceability system: A big data perspective. Advances in Transdisciplinary Engineering, 8. doi:10.3233/978-1-61499-902-7-323.

Clark, B., & Burstall, R. (2018). Blockchain, IP and the pharma industry-how distributed ledger technologies can help secure the pharma supply chain. Journal of Intellectual Property Law and Practice, 13(7), 531–533. doi:10.1093/jiplp/jpy069.

Das, A. K., Bera, B., & Giri, D. (2021). AI and Blockchain-Based Cloud-Assisted Secure Vaccine Distribution and Tracking in IoMT-Enabled COVID-19 Environment. IEEE Internet of Things Magazine, 4(2), 26–32. doi:10.1109/iotm.0001.2100016.

Mcafee. (2024). Blockchain Threat Report-Mcafee.com. Available online: www.mcafee.com/enterprise/en-us/assets/reports/rp-blockchain-security-risks.pdf. (accessed on May 2024).

Yepes-Nuñez, J. J., Urrútia, G., Romero-García, M., & Alonso-Fernández, S. (2021). The PRISMA 2020 statement: an updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. Revista Espanola de Cardiologia, 74(9), 790–799. doi:10.1016/j.recesp.2021.06.016.

Page, M. J., McKenzie, J. E., Bossuyt, P. M., Boutron, I., Hoffmann, T. C., Mulrow, C. D., Shamseer, L., Tetzlaff, J. M., Akl, E. A., Brennan, S. E., Chou, R., Glanville, J., Grimshaw, J. M., Hróbjartsson, A., Lalu, M. M., Li, T., Loder, E. W., Mayo-Wilson, E., McDonald, S., … Moher, D. (2022). The PRISMA 2020 statement: an updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. Revista Panamericana de Salud Publica/Pan American Journal of Public Health, 46. doi:10.26633/RPSP.2022.112.

Kitchenham, B., & Brereton, P. (2013). A systematic review of systematic review process research in software engineering. Information and Software Technology, 55(12), 2049–2075. doi:10.1016/j.infsof.2013.07.010.

Kitchenham, B., & Charters, S. M. (2007). Guidelines for performing systematic literature reviews in software engineering. Technical Report, Ver. 2.3 EBSE Technical Report. EBSE, January 2007, 1–57.

Colomo-Palacios, R., Sánchez-Gordón, M., & Arias-Aranda, D. (2020). A critical review on blockchain assessment initiatives: A technology evolution viewpoint. Journal of Software: Evolution and Process, 32(11). doi:10.1002/smr.2272.

Higgins, J. P. T., Thomas, J., Chandler, J., Cumpston, M., Li, T., Page, M. J., & Welch, V. A. (2019). Cochrane handbook for systematic reviews of interventions. Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. West Sussex, England. doi:10.1002/9781119536604.

Fiore, M., Capodici, A., Rucci, P., Bianconi, A., Longo, G., Ricci, M., Sanmarchi, F., & Golinelli, D. (2023). Blockchain for the Healthcare Supply Chain: A Systematic Literature Review. Applied Sciences (Switzerland), 13(2), 686. doi:10.3390/app13020686.

Tas, R., & Tanriover, O. O. (2019). Building a Decentralized Application on the Ethereum Blockchain. 3rd International Symposium on Multidisciplinary Studies and Innovative Technologies, 1–4. doi:10.1109/ISMSIT.2019.8932806.

Christidis, K., & Devetsikiotis, M. (2016). Blockchains and Smart Contracts for the Internet of Things. IEEE Access, 4, 2292–2303. doi:10.1109/ACCESS.2016.2566339.

Boetto, E., Golinelli, D., Carullo, G., & Fantini, M. P. (2021). Frauds in scientific research and how to possibly overcome them. Journal of Medical Ethics, 47(12), E19. doi:10.1136/medethics-2020-106639.

The Guardian (2017). 10% of drugs in poor countries are fake, says WHO | Global health. The Guardian, London, United Kingdom. Available online: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/nov/28/10-of-drugs-in-poor-countries-are-fake-says-who (accessed on November 2024).

W.H.O. (2017). A study on Public Health and Socio-economic Impact of Substandard and Falsified Medical Products. World Health Organization, 1–67. Available online: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241513432 (accessed on November 2024).

Theodoratou, E., Al-Jilaihawi, S., Woodward, F., Ferguson, J., Jhass, A., Balliet, M., Kolcic, I., Sadruddin, S., Duke, T., Rudan, I., & Campbell, H. (2010). The effect of case management on childhood pneumonia mortality in developing countries. International Journal of Epidemiology, 39(SUPPL. 1), 155– 171. doi:10.1093/ije/dyq032.

Ahmad, R. W., Salah, K., Jayaraman, R., Yaqoob, I., Ellahham, S., & Omar, M. (2023). Blockchain and COVID-19 pandemic: applications and challenges. Cluster Computing, 26(4), 2383–2408. doi:10.1007/s10586-023-04009-7.

Nanda, S. K., Panda, S. K., & Dash, M. (2023). Medical supply chain integrated with blockchain and IoT to track the logistics of medical products. Multimedia Tools and Applications, 82(21), 32917–32939. doi:10.1007/s11042-023-14846-8.

Sahu, S., Hemlata, & Verma, A. (2014). Adverse events related to blood transfusion. Indian Journal of Anaesthesia, 58(5), 543–551. doi:10.4103/0019-5049.144650.

Yadav, A. K., Shweta, & Kumar, D. (2023). Blockchain technology and vaccine supply chain: Exploration and analysis of the adoption barriers in the Indian context. International Journal of Production Economics, 255. doi:10.1016/j.ijpe.2022.108716.

Alanzi, H., & Alkhatib, M. (2022). Towards Improving Privacy and Security of Identity Management Systems Using Blockchain Technology: A Systematic Review. Applied Sciences (Switzerland), 12(23), 12415. doi:10.3390/app122312415.

Ahamed N, N., & Vignesh, R. (2022). Blood Supply Chain Management Using Blockchain Technology. Research Square (Preprint), 1-16. doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-1888116/v1.

Kim, S., Kim, J., & Kim, D. (2020). Implementation of a blood cold chain system using blockchain technology. Applied Sciences (Switzerland), 10(9), 3330. doi:10.3390/app10093330.


Full Text: PDF

DOI: 10.28991/HIJ-2024-05-04-019

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2024 Nazatul Niesya, Md Shohel Sayeed