Blockchain adoption in health market: a systems thinking and modelling approach

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to formulate strategic interventions that can contribute to adoption of blockchain in Asian health market. Design/methodology/approach A methodological framework based on the three qualitative phases of the systems thinking and modelling methodology, namely, problem structuring, causal loop modelling and developing strategic interventions were used. Data was collected using thirty interviews and secondary research. Findings The reference model developed in the study captured the system behavior, showing health market blockchain adoption increasing in other countries but struggling in Asia. The qualitative systems model developed explained this behavior by capturing the underlying system structure using six interconnected feedback loops. Three strategic interventions were formulated to change the system structure to improve its adoption. Research limitations/implications This study acknowledges its limitation that blockchain integration in health supply chain management (SCM) and adaptability to technological trends are just few elements that contributes to challenges in blockchain adoption in Asia Pacific health market . It also acknowledges the limited scale of this study using 30 interviews with a narrow set of stakeholders, limiting its generalisability. Practical implications Although the blockchain technology has medical data security benefits, its integration in health SCM could potentially improve cost of health service delivery to patient. Not only it prevents drug counterfeiting, it enhances patient’s safety by reducing the time it takes to alert the supply chain of a product recall from few days to few seconds. Social implications “Blockchain-as-a-Service” has wide applications in SCM, identity management, payments, smart contracts, governance risk and compliance management, with its market size expected to grow in future. This affordable solution opens up the roads for future empirical research for information systems academicians and information technology practitioners. Originality/value This research provides a holistic analysis of the challenges facing blockchain adoption in the health market for Asia. It offers a methodological approach based on systems thinking and modelling to improve its adoption.

Blockchain Adoption in Accounting and Auditing: A Qualitative Inquiry in Sri Lanka

“…Studies focusing on the adoption of blockchain in developing countries focus mainly on the areas such as agriculture, food supply chain, asset registration, and health care management (Akinradewo et al, 2022;Dhagarra et al, 2019;Kumar et al, 2022;Mazambani & Mutambara, 2020;Mintah et al, 2020;Nanda & Nanda, 2022). Scholarly findings from the Indian context focus on the applicability of blockchain to manage the food supply chains accurately in the developing countries to minimize food wastages, remove disparities in the distribution, and make the process more transparent (Kumar et al, 2022;Mishra & Maheshwari, 2021).…”

“…In addition, studies focusing on the developing countries (e.g. from the Indian and African regions) have investigated the applicability of blockchain in maintaining transparent property registries (Mintah et al, 2020) and healthcare record management (Nanda & Nanda, 2022;Dhagarra et al, 2019).…”

“…However, the blockchain adoption rates were low in developing countries and furthermore in developing countries, the practical application of blockchain technology in the finance and accounting sectors was observed to be less. The focus of the existing studies was on healthcare, agriculture, and supply chain industries (Akinradewo et al, 2022;Dhagarra et al, 2019;Kumar et al, 2022;Mazambani & Mutambara, 2020;Mintah et al, 2020;Nanda & Nanda, 2022). This lack was also evident in the interviews conducted with the IT and accounting professionals in Sri Lanka to explore the possible research gaps before the study.…”

Eleven years of cyberattacks on Chinese supply chains in an era of cyber warfare, a review and future research agenda

“…Some of these reviews have been comprehensive (Macedo et al, 2019;Pandey et al, 2019;Sengupta et al, 2020;Sepulveda et al, 2020) while others have focused on specific aspects, such as the internet of things (IoT) (Oravec, 2017) enabled cyberattacks in industry, smart grid, transportation, medical services and smart homes (Stellios et al, 2018;Kennedy et al, 2019;Gupta et al, 2020a), Block Chain integration in health supply chain management (SCM) (Nanda and Nanda, 2021) or ethical and regulatory issues as related to cyberattacks (Pesapane et al, 2018). These reviews have covered key issues and provided key insights, but ours is one of the first studies to examine cyberattacks on Chinese SCs and calls for global governance, an issue not well studied in the literature, our works aim to reduce these gaps.…”

Use of Blockchain Technology to Manage the Supply Chains: Comparison of Perspectives between Technology Providers and Early Industry Adopters

“…Even though business applications of BCT are a few years old, the investigation of BCT in an SCM context is a new concept [8]. Some studies focus on specific cases of BCT application to SCs in particular countries [9][10][11] and geographical regions [12,13], but no studies were found with a more global perspective.…”