Supplier Selection in Healthcare using Blockchain

Abstract

Supplier selection is a topic widely studied in both academics and industry. Even though it has extensive literature, there is not enough research on healthcare supplier selection (HSS). Healthcare is a critical sector. Any decision made for it needs to be done scrupulously and transparently. Because if later something goes wrong, only responsible individuals should be held accountable. However, the existing system for HSS is not competent enough. Therefore, we need a decentralised system that extensively supports automation, transparency, traceability, data immutability and security. This paper proposes a blockchain-based decentralised platform for HSS. The features of a blockchain system, like immutability, transparency, traceability, blockchain-backed smart contract, etc., are leveraged for HSS. Smart contact is employed for safe, intermediary-free & hassle-free contractual work between the buyers and suppliers. Supplier selection is done using a Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) method because multiple criteria must be considered to assess a supplier.