Addressing counterfeiting and fraud concerns in healthcare packaging and labeling with blockchain: Opportunities and challenges

Abstract

Blockchain technology (BT), originally developed to facilitate secure digital monetary transactions, has recently gained significant traction in various healthcare sectors. Characterized by the exponential growth of sensitive data, the healthcare sector is poised to witness the emergence of BT. This emergence is primarily driven by the pressing need to globally expose, protect against threats, ensure confidentiality, and establish traceability for the plethora of sensitive data continuously generated by the healthcare industry. The healthcare supply chain focuses on traceability due to the prevalence of counterfeit and recalled drugs. Managing operational constraints such as temperature, humidity, and air quality within specified parameters is paramount. The various processes involved in international trade transactions contribute to the creation of numerous records, each of which is meticulously entered into the systems of the companies involved. Therefore, the problem set for this study was: What are the challenges and prospects for BT in the healthcare sector? To answer this question, the following objective was set: describe and examine the challenges and prospects of BT in the healthcare sector. In addition, a key research objective was to identify specific applications and use cases that can benefit the most from this technological advancement. In line with the research objective, a systematic review of all studies BT for traceability, anti-counterfeiting, and fraud detection was conducted from January 2023 to September 2023. Using robust tools such as VosViewer, we used bibliometric metrics from the renowned medical repository PubMed to construct and visually represent data analysis networks. BT shows remarkable potential to improve traceability and optimize supply chain management within healthcare organizations. The study includes a deep analysis of blockchain capabilities, including smart contracts, identity management, access control, and zero-knowledge proofing.