Should the world start relying on blockchain to help the healthcare system in tracking protective gears?
The World Economic Forum organization stated in April that businesses needs to start using BlockChain in order to improve their supply chains during the ongoing crisis caused by the COVID-19.
During the pandemic, many flaws in the global supply chains have been revealed, meaning that the medical services market could be suffering from the same.
In the medical field, the use of blockchain is varied given the technology that it provides to store and share clinical data and medical records. However, with the upcoming of Covid-19 and the revealing of the flaws of the sector, blockchains are being sought after as a probable solution to recover these issues.
It was primarily designed for financial transactions but is currently used by businesses to track orders of products. This allows them to know about issues that could arise during the process of shipment of the product and give them the possibility to track their orders.
How is blockchain currently used?
BlockChain has become widely used and in 2019, a survey found that more than 50% of organizations find blockchain a technology that is classified as a priority in their institutions. It is used to manage supplies and to track products and materials. Using it enables trust, traceability and visibility in the field, especially against unknown users and suppliers.
The opportunities for blockchain during Covid-19
The officials at the US State Council has announced previously that the authorities have detained, back in March, more than 80 million counterfeit masks and 300,000 fake disinfectants and other products that aim at keeping the virus away.
The USA was not the only country that has claimed so as many authorities if other countries have stated that fake products and ineffective ones have been caught.
In order to regulate such situations, blockchain can be used. Not only it can track the order and make sure that it is moving from one place to another, but it can also tell the buyers how trusted the suppliers are. The buyers then will be able to trust the other end based on the information given by the blockchain technology.
The transparency in all the points of the supply chain helps verify the legitimacy of a product, and recognize the source of transgressions which helps increase accuracy and efficiency.
The drawbacks of blockchain in managing the healthcare industry
The implementation of blockchain is costly and could cost up to $350,000.
The technology of blockchain could be misused in many ways that have not been thought of yet. Some of these breaches could be related to security and the losses could be massive.
Another issue is that blockchain is just data, and the software is what makes it useful.
Some experts would also say that the medical sector is not ready yet for the implementation of blockchain technology.
The principle of transparency could also be threatened if the supply chains are not made open or public like the bitcoin blockchains.
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