From Our CEO
Is Blockchain the Remedy to Health Care Logistics Issues?
By ASCM CEO Abe Eshkenazi, CSCP, CPA, CAE
Increasingly, pharmaceutical companies are putting blockchain to the test in order to track and trace the drugs they manufacture and ship. In fact, according to Healthcare Weekly, blockchain is “getting massive attention” in health care, with 40 percent of industry executives reporting that it is one of their top five priorities.
Blockchain, a decentralized network that shares information with participants in real time, has clear potential to transform and advance health care logistics, transportation and distribution. “The technology offers a potential solution to a number of challenges,” write J. Mark Waxman, Kyle Faget and Ben Daniels for Medical Economics. “The ability of blockchain to track and store data chronologically across a peer-to-peer network makes the technology particularly well suited to solve for the traceability requirements imposed by the Drug Supply Chain Security Act. In addition, blockchain is uniquely secure, which could reduce common issues in drug supply, such as drug counterfeiting.”
The authors note that, currently, no one source has all the transfer information as a medicine makes the journey from manufacturer to dispenser. “Pinpointing a product’s position in the drug supply chain requires an accurate accounting of a product’s chain of custody,” they explain.
A recent Cointelegraph article shares how one company is working to achieve this pharmaceutical supply chain precision. Blockchain startup MediConnect offers a solution that will enable tracking and managing of prescription medication through the supply chain while preventing misuse.
Author Ana Alexandre writes that, earlier this year, the Ugandan government partnered with MediConnect to trace counterfeit drugs within the country. “The blockchain-based platform enables the recording of prescription medication, thus identifying counterfeit drugs and preventing their distribution in the pharmaceutical supply chain,” she says, adding that the potential of blockchain in health care is also recognized by the United Arab Emirates’ Ministry of Health and Prevention, which launched a blockchain system for recording and sharing health care data.
Arm yourself with knowledge
One of the most interesting aspects of blockchain is that it requires no trust from users but delivers trustworthy transactional data. As a result, supply chains around the world are benefiting from a whole new level of transparency into the status and location of their goods.
As Ron Crabtree, CIRM, SCOR-P, explains: “The opportunities for logistics, transportation and distribution companies are truly endless, as the often painful process of making sure everything is done right throughout a value stream becomes much less stressful and error-prone. Indeed, many experts agree that blockchains are generating a less expensive, reliable way to know the status of a transaction.”
One way to ensure that you have the latest industry-leading skills and knowledge is by becoming Certified in Logistics, Transportation and Distribution (CLTD). This APICS designation will help you understand and maximize new supply chain technologies, trends and solutions. The CLTD program gives you everything you need to effectively demonstrate in-depth expertise of essential concepts in order to streamline operations, boost your organization’s bottom line and set you apart from your peers.