- Blockchain can smooth the process of tracking and verifying clinical trial data.
- This can lead to faster drug development and safer therapies.
- By providing real-time visibility into inventory levels and product movement, it can reduce incompetence and delays.
Blockchain Technology is transforming the world across multiple industries, including the pharmaceutical industry. The pharmaceutical industry suffers from a lack of transparency and issues with patient data leakage. Blockchain technology has been applied to solve multiple types of problems. In this article, we will discuss how it could be really helpful for the pharmaceutical sector and how exactly they can benefit from it.
What Is Blockchain and Its Potential
Blockchain is referred to as a digital distributed ledger. In simple words, how blockchain technology can be compared to how Google Docs works. When you create a Google Doc and share it with a group of people, the document is simply shared instead of copied or transferred.
This creates a decentralized distribution chain that gives everyone access to the base document at the same time. Blockchain is an especially promising and revolutionary technology because it helps reduce security risks.
How Will Blockchain Be Used in Pharmacy?
Blockchain allows the tracking of drug or medicine movements all the way from the manufacturer to the patient’s doorstep. This helps prevent fake drugs from moment they enter the supply chain and improves drug traceability.
The most visible effects of Blockchain on Pharmacy are:
Prescriptions for Blockchain
Blockchain technology has the potential to enhance data security in numerous ways:
- Preventing Prescription Fraud: By storing prescribed data on blockchain, pharmacies can generate a tamper-proof record of prescription data that cannot be easily utilized. This reduces prescription fraud and improves patient safety and security.
- Patient Data Privacy: Blockchain can provide a secure and decentralized platform for storing and managing patient health records. Healthcare professionals may obtain the most current and accurate information improves patient care, and patients have choice over who has access to their data.
Positive Regulation: Using blockchain for storing prescription data means pharmacies automatically follow regulations and guidelines related to prescription data storage and sharing.
Enhanced Data Security, Trails, and Accountability
It can help ensure the accuracy and integrity of trial results by recording data changes in an unchangeable and transparent manner.
Due to its decentralized structure and cryptographic security features, blockchain is extremely resistant to fraud and tampering. Transparency and accountability are also ensured because the complete history of transactions is recorded, documented, and available to all parties.
Securing the Supply Chain and Eliminating Fake Medicine
Blockchain can enhance the variability of pharmaceutical products throughout the supply chain. Each step, from manufacturing to distribution to the pharmacy shelf, can be recorded in a transparent and tamper-proof manner. This lowers the chance of fake medicine entering the market, reduces the risk of medication errors, and ensures the authenticity of medications.
Blockchain can optimize the supply chains of pharmaceutical ingredients and medical devices.
Each time a new and modern transaction happens within the supply chain, it’s included in the blockchain. This creates an unchangeable record that cannot be modified.
This record includes details like
- Time and Date of the transaction,
- Parties involved
- Area of the transaction.
So any negative activity can be detected and caught quickly, and the drug can be traced back to its source.
As fake medicines pose a notable threat to public health, ensuring drug traceability using blockchain technology can help prevent these dangerous and fake drugs from entering the supply chain.
Conclusion
Blockchain
While the possible benefits of blockchain in the pharmacy sector are significant, there are challenges to consider, such as regulatory positives, data standardization, integration with existing systems, and energy consumption. Overall, blockchain technology offers a secure and transparent path to record, document, and verify transactions, creating a decentralized system that can provide various benefits across multiple industries.
