Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Leaders Awarded Best 2020 Research Article

Published: Tue, 11/16/21

Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Leaders UCLA Health and LedgerDomain Awarded Best 2020 Research Article at ConV2X Blockchain in Healthcare Event

Partners in Digital Health is honored to announce the 2020 Blockchain in Healthcare Today (BHTY) Editors Best Article Award. The journal is the world’s first peer-reviewed journal that amplifies and disseminates distributed ledger technology research and innovations in the healthcare, information systems, clinical computing, network technology and biomedical science sector.

The award was announced during the ConV2X 2021 conference, themed “Blueprint for a New Digital Health Era,” broadcast November 9-11, 2021. The winning article is titled: “The Last Mile: DSCSA Solution Through Blockchain Technology: Drug Tracking, Tracing, and Verification at the Last Mile of the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain with BRUINchain,” by lead author William Chien (PharmD, MBA) and fellow authors from UCLA Health and LedgerDomain. The article is located at https://doi.org/10.30953/bhty.v3.134.

The announcement video can be found here.

The groundbreaking article was part of the FDA’s Pilot Project Program for the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA), and centered on a healthcare center pharmacy operating solely on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) technology. It presented the highest number of BHTY 2020 reader engagements, with the most downloads and views.

The study demonstrated a 100% success rate across scanning, expiration detection, and counterfeit detection; and paperwork reduction from approximately 1 hour to less than a minute. Projecting out to 4.2 billion prescriptions being dispensed each year in the United States, the study found that distributed ledger technologies (such as blockchain) would not only save $183 million in annual labor costs, but also avert bad or fraudulent transactions, reduce the need for safety stock, and enhance the detection and removal of potentially dangerous drugs from the drug supply chain to protect U.S. consumers.

“As healthcare systems and their pharmaceutical manufacturer partners ramp up to meet the DSCSA’s November 2023 deadlines, we really expect that verification and traceability requirements will impose significant costs,” said Jess de Jesus (PharmD, MBA, FACHE), one of the study’s co-authors. “While ultimately this will serve to improve patient outcomes by intercepting counterfeits or otherwise harmful products, we also believe that it’s possible to get value from this process. Nobody wants drugs to pile up while we are waiting on verification. Everybody wants to catch counterfeits, expired drugs, and recalled drugs. So the verification should be nearly real-time, and dispensers should be empowered to make use of the 2D barcodes required under the statute to improve pharmacy workflows and inventory management.”

“As a new journal, we’re proud to bring landmark research to the global ecosystem demonstrating how blockchain technology can truly impact cost and inject efficient solutions in a health system that desperately needs modernization and security,” stated Tory Cenaj, Publisher.

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Blockchain in Healthcare Today (BHTY) is the world’s first peer review journal that amplifies and disseminates distributed ledger technology research and innovations in the healthcare sector. The preeminent open access journal facilitates sharing, discussion and consensus building for a multi-disciplinary market across a global community of stakeholders engaged in discovering, implementing and modernizing quality affordable health systems and care around the globe. The journal is published on a continuous basis in order to accelerate sharing rigorously vetted theoretical and experiential knowledge required for a growth sector. A world-class board endeavors to offer rapid peer review and includes constructive commentary to strengthen work.