It is important to use a distributed registry to regulate pharmaceutical supplies and track medicines. Developing platforms that both service providers and supervisory authorities will have access to will help establish transparent partnerships and eliminate fraud.
Smart Contract and new supply chain
In the near future it is not clear which digital currency will be dominant. It can be Bitcoin, Ethereum, or some other digital currency. However, smart contracts will hold any of these currencies.
Smart contracts will improve the supply chain. First of all, cash can be deposited in advance. Blockchain system allows the merchant to invest in a smart contract and after the smart contract from the shipping company informs about the acceptance of the order, the funds are automatically withdrawn by the smart contract.As an example, mutual settlements can be carried out using Ethereum applications.
This chain also works for the transport company. After the pharmaceutical wholesalers notify that the goods have been received, the smart contract will cancel the payment to the shipping company.Blockchain system and smart contracts will allow for instant payments. This practice of international money transfers will allow speeding up and reducing the cost of mutual settlements in comparison with the existing financial model.
Administrative cost reduction
Payments using smart contracts will reduce administrative costs. Currently, administrative costs in the supply chain include expenses for administrative staff that process invoices and send payments. Smart contracts will automate a significant amount of administrative work and reduce costs.This will positively affect the cost of their pharmaceutical products.
Drug limit control
Smart contracts can be programmed to automatically reorder pharmaceuticals when stocks run out.For example, pharmacies and hospitals can use this code to digitize their inventory. This will allow you to control the level of stocks and replenish them in a timely manner.When a doctor or nurse prescribes a medicine to a patient, they can scan it. Thus, the inventory program records the use of this drug. If the limit is reached, the smart contract will be able to automatically order more drugs.
How is Ethereum different from Bitcoin?
At first glance, bitcoin and ether seem identical. But even though both crypts are built on the blockchain, they do not have much in common. The practical goals of using the Ethereum platform, which were announced in 2013, are completely different.
The main practical goal of Bitcoin is an anonymous, decentralized means of making payment transactions that are irreversible and open to all network participants. The Bitcoin cryptocurrency blockchain is used for only one purpose – to record information about all transactions ever conducted on the network and current ownership rights.
The Ethereum blockchain records information about program codes and ensures the operation of all decentralized applications developed on Ethereum. Therefore, the main goal of Ethereum is to provide a decentralized platform for application developers.
Ether as a cryptocurrency
The main objective of Ether (ETH) is the transfer of digital currency as an asset in the performance of the action enshrined in the Smart Contract. There are smart contracts in Bitcoin, but in BTC their capabilities are greatly simplified. More about Smart Contracts is in the next section.
Ethereum Smart Contracts
The Ethereum blockchain supports Smart Contracts. This is a predetermined irreversible action that will be automatically performed when a certain condition is met. A smart contract can be called an automatic and autonomous program, which, after launching into the network, eliminates outside interference.
An example of a Smart Contract is the result of a bet on the outcome of a football match. The creators of the contract put their Ether on two different teams in the planned match. After the creation of the Smart Contract, no one can make changes to its conditions. After the match is over, the program looks at the result and, according to the Contract, pays one of the parties the total amount of the bet on the Air. The action is absolutely transparent and irreversible.
Smart Contracts can be called an ideal system of contractual relations between people. Moreover, this technology is unlimited in its development in everyday life.
Ethereum Virtual Machine
Developers often encounter limited functionality when creating applications on a clean blockchain. The Ethereum platform, thanks to the unique technology of the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), allows you to add any functions to the application that are limited only by the imagination of the developer. In addition, the platform thanks to EVN supports applications written in any program code.
How to create an Ethereum wallet?
- There are two options for creating an Ethereum wallet:
- Download the platform program to a computer;
- Create a wallet in the online service.
Since Ethereum works on a decentralized blockchain, accordingly, records of all transactions and actions are stored by each network member. Therefore, if you decide to install the desktop program on your computer, then for correct operation you will have to download and constantly synchronize the entire Ethereum blockchain network to the current state.
For a regular network member with mundane requests, this is not the best option. Since the base of the Ethereum blockchain occupies gigabytes of disk space and is constantly increasing in size.