A Blockchain-Enabled Medical Supply Chain Framework Integrating Hybrid Consensus, Smart Contracts, and Dynamic Quick Response-Based Traceability for Distributed Healthcare Systems

Abstract

Healthcare supply chains face increasing challenges related to counterfeit products, fragmented information flows, limited traceability, and insufficient coordination among distributed stakeholders.Existing centralized and partially decentralized approaches still encounter difficulties in maintaining immutable records, real-time verification, and trusted operational transparency across the pharmaceutical distribution process.This study investigates a distributed medical supply chain framework that improves traceability, compliance control, and operational reliability in healthcare logistics.A blockchain-enabled architecture was developed by integrating dynamic quick response (QR)-based identification, customizable smart contracts, and a hybrid consensus mechanism combining Proof-of-Work (PoW) and Proof-of-Stake (PoS).The framework assigned a unique cryptographic identity to each medicine unit and supported end-to-end verification through blockchain-linked QR validation.Smart contracts were designed to automate ownership transfer, compliance checking, and counterfeit detection throughout the supply chain workflow.The framework was implemented and evaluated in a simulated distributed environment using pharmaceutical transaction scenarios.The experimental results showed that the proposed approach achieved average validation accuracy of approximately 98.1%, maintained transaction throughput between 150 and 320 transactions per second (TPS), and reduced consensus delay through adaptive PoW-PoS coordination.The system also demonstrated strong resistance to forgery attempts and stable operational performance across repeated validation experiments.The results indicate that integrating blockchain governance mechanisms with QR-enabled authentication can improve transparency, trust, and traceability in distributed healthcare supply chains.The proposed framework provides a scalable systems engineering solution for pharmaceutical logistics management and offers a practical foundation for compliance-oriented digital transformation in healthcare supply networks.