Scalable Blockchain Architectures for Healthcare Supply Chains: A Review of Hyperledger Fabric and Sharding Techniques

Effective and efficient supply chain management is important for the healthcare sector to access essential medications and medical products on time. Blockchain has emerged as a transformative technology for streamlining and increasing transparency in these systems; however, issues regarding latency, scalability, throughput, and security often restrict its successful implementation. Hyperledger Fabric, a prominent private blockchain architecture, has gained significant traction in the healthcare supply chain due to its modular design, privacy features, and high transaction efficiency. To further address the challenge of scalability, sharding is introduced as a technique to divide the network into smaller, evenly distributed segments called shards. These shards process transactions in parallel rather than taxing the entire network. This review paper offers an overview of existing studies by examining the integration of Hyperledger Fabric and sharding within the healthcare supply chain. It addresses a critical gap in the literature where investigations into scalability and security are dispersed.