Challenges of Drone Application in Healthcare Supply Chain

This article discusses the challenges of using drones in the healthcare supply chain, including coordination issues, safety concerns, and high costs. It also explores the potential applications of drones in the medical sector to improve healthcare services.

THE CHALLENGES OF DRONE
APPLICATION IN THE HEALTH
CARE SUPPLY CHAIN

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Literature Review.............................................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Drone is the very great discovery of the science and also drone is very helpful in every
sector that can be in Army where the country used the Drones against the rival country to watch
the malicious activities of the country and according to their activities, the actions is to be taken
by the drone and also it is an advanced discovery in the field of electronics. The use of drones in
every industry is also the achievement that reduces the time and this is an important innovation
in every customer centric companies which uses the drones as a delivery agent proper delivery
services are given by the drones and the response of these artificial flying birds among the people
are also the great advantage. Drone is automatic machine which utilizes in oil & gas for safety
purpose, surveillance, emergency event and infrastructure monitoring. Drone performs
application in various fields like aerial photography, agriculture& farming, commercial and
industrial construction, racing & sports, entertainment and light shows, aerial delivery &
shipping, fire fighting, hunting supports, sensory inspections and medical & emergency,
mapping, operational oversight and in traffic control. The most important application of drone is
in the Supply chain management and this reduces the time and cost of the company and makes
the work efficient because the supply chain management companies uses the heavy vehicles and
sometimes the flights that can be a costly factor to supply the material from on place to another
so here the drones found very effective and effective method to deliver any product and customer
are also satisfied because of the fast and seamless delivery on time without any damage in the
product. The drones are very much useful in medical industries because it can a useful asset
during emergency and also the delivery of the medicines in the remote areas where the medical
services are not available. There are several countries that are using the drones as a delivery
agent in medical industries that can be America, India, China, Japan, Indonesia etc. and
especially America is the first country in the world which starts the drones deliveries and this
goes boom and after that several countries come ahead and give the permission to the drones in
countries that are India, China, Indonesia and India is in the top among these countries that uses
the drones in several sectors that are in medical industries, supply chain, Army Boulos, Wilson &
Clauson. (2018). The other countries are testing the drones for reducing the need of forklifts and
also conveyor belts that are used to transport the boxes at a remote places. Drones are also used
in providing the vaccination in the poor countries that reduces the transportation cost and
improves the vaccination rate because there are several countries that are suffering from life

threatening problems and the people die because of the improper medication and also in some
areas, humans cannot reach and the drones are found the suitable that helps these areas and
provides the proper medical supply. Drones are the future of the medical industries and it allows
the people more people in nursing home to receive home care and patients who are not able to go
to the hospitals and here drones provides the medical facilities at a very cheaper cost. But drones
are having some problems in the delivery process in the medical industries and the challenges
that can affect the delivery of medical treatments to the patients on correct time. There are
several challenges the company faces during the delivery that can be-
 Unbalanced coordination between the manufactures and customers
 Safety issues and the rival eyes on the activities of drone.
 Costly means and not anyone can use the drone facility and the maintenance of drone is
beyond the reach.
Aviation Approval is the biggest challenge for healthcare supply chain to utilize electronic
technology. Firstly they have to take legal approval for utilizing airborne delivery system then
healthcare department can enable to supply healthcare services to peoples. Insurance & costs is
another challenge for supply chain management where have to pay high cost for supplying goods
to patient which enhance charges of goods and their services, In that state healthcare department
avoid using this technology. Healthcare department have to face insurance challenge. To usage
of this technology firstly they have to take insurance policy which enhance charge of that
technology and consume more time for this process Comes, Bergtora Sandvik & Van de Walle,
(2018). Such kind issues gives challenge to healthcare supply chain management. Weather also
gives challenges to medical supply chain. For example during rainy season airborne delivery
system unable to deliver blood and vaccine to patient and hospital within minutes. Untrained
operators also a challenge because this technology needs to be trained operator for operating, a
normal person can't fly drone, so supply chain management firstly have to recruit operators then
can enable to fly this drone.
Urban delivery is also a challenge for supply chain management where airborne technology
system unable to supply medicines in remote area. Through this technology supply chain
management doesn't deliver medicine on time and also unable to supply healthcare services to
patient. Drone also incapable to deliver hospital in rural area. Data theft is also big issue for
healthcare supply chain management because it is airborne technology and it doesn't give any

type of security and hacker can access this system and can steal data which is sent to another
department Erceg & Kilic, (2019). Thus, it is not secure technology for conveying important
data. Loss of control situation can occur when someone or potential hacker hacks technology and
takes control of this technology system in that state it can failure. On other hand suddenly
interference in drone can create big risk and such kind incidents can leads injuries for patient.
Healthcare department can face vast loss in medicine supply. Collision also the biggest threat for
supply chain management. Potential drone crashes during supplying of healthcare services like
blood products, emergency medical product can create risk for patient. They don't get emergency
product on proper time due to collision. Due to crashing of drones supply chain management
have to face economy loss. Limited battery power is another threat. Healthcare department can
get short power battery issue where a drone can fly only for thirty minutes. Supply chain
management can deliver medicine only those areas where charger station available. Supply chain
management incapable to supply healthcare products too far area due to short battery power Raj
& Sah, (2019).
Research questions
1. What are the various challenges that limits the use of drones in the medical supply chain
industries?
2. What are the applications and the use that can improvise the drone's facility in the
medical sector?
Literature Review
Various challenges that limits the use of drones in the medical supply chain industries.
There are many challenges which bounds the use of drones in the medical supply chain
industries. There major challenges are that the battery of the drone can be over at any time so
that the urgent delivery can be delayed and after that there is no other alternative. It can be limits
of weight as overweight things can be supplied and the limited quantity can be supplied at once.
The drone delivery charges the high cost for that and thus the limit of weight which is associated
with it also a major drawback that cost a high amount on the delivery of the product. The
delivery by the drone can sometime be slow as well Richard, Bempong & Flahault, (2019).
Drone can not deliver the product to the obscure areas this also limits the use of drones in the
medical supply chain industries. These can not deliver the fluid in it as it is the risky zone where
it can be dropped off or split in the air and so the solid material can only be delivered by this.

The heavy material can also not be taken further by this as any machinery or equipment which
are to be delivered by the transport. It is not also so much aware to the consumers thus also the
uses of drones are limits. Technical issues may also can arise in the air thus the delivery by the
drone of medical equipment can be delayed and can delivered to the other place and thus this
can't be appropriately used when it is needed to be used in the urgency Stadler, (2019).
The drones are very expensive which is why it is not affordable and the weather plays a very
important role because if it is snowing or raining, it is impossible for anyone to fly the drones.
The drones are expensive because they have a inbuilt software, hardware and camera. These
drones are easily hackable because it has a controller which makes it get connected to the base
and from that base any hacker can easily get access to the drone. People will get access to the
drones then the limitations of the drones would be that they are not going to be used. The drones
can not fly for long distance and the battery life is already of only 30 minutes maximum which
will not be able to export anything to the patiences or the medical chain. Drone can even invade
in peoples private life's because they have a very powerful camera and night vision Verdin,
(2019). The speed of the drones is very slow and can even be dangerous for people's life because
the camera can not 360 degrees always and it is impossible for the camera's to keep rotating. The
speed of a drone is just 30mph which is very slow for anything to fly. It can not fly too high or
too far which is the biggest draw back for a drone Swan, (2019).
Applications and the use that can improvise the drone's facility in the medical sector.
According to Kassem, Lia & Greenwood, (2018), the drones are the future of medical industries
and this will create the successful impact on the whole supply chain management in medical
industries. The healthcare industries offers the best use of drone for improving the healthcare
services and there are several countries that are using the drones in every sector such as
Indonesia, India, Japan and also the other countries take part in the making the “Ambulance
drones” that can be helpful during emergencies and also theses provides the seamless services. It
can act as the time savior in the critical situations and also saves the cost of the other supply
chain needs. Kille, Bates & Lee, (2019) declares that the drone is the useful method of
transportation one day it will increase the speed of every sector. Drones in the medical industries
are useful in delivering the medical services like drugs, blood, serum in the small and the remote
where the medical services cannot go physically and also the drones are so advanced which can
life the two person also at a time and this can be a suitable during emergencies and doctors can

easily diagnose the person because in remote places are out of reach of the normal person and
here the drones are the useful supply chain facilities that can be helpful in going at that place
without the on-board pilots and this is the biggest advantage of drones. There are several
challenges during the drone deliveries that can affect the medical supplies due to climate change
and the temperature that can affect the drone and because the drones are the very small object
and it is very difficult sometimes to trace the object and also the technologies that are not up to
the mark and rivals are also the rivals are kept their eyes on the drones that can be a dangerous
for the drone and their safety. This can be overcome by making the control rooms that can follow
the whole journey of drone and also the drone ambulance can be helpful in delivering the best
medical services at a cheaper cost. Another statement of Klumpp, (2017) tells about the drone
and their applications in the medical industries and also tells about the suitable effects of the
drones on the supply chain management and the positive aspects of the drones in the medical
supply chain management. The future of the drone deliveries in American and in the rest of the
world and one day, whole country will come under the effect of drone and this will be the rise of
new era of transportation and this will give the best hike or improvise the economy and finance
of the country. Drones help provide more efficient healthcare to patients from a distance and this
technology is like a first aid in previous years but after the advancement in the technologies and
as the electronics are regularly become advanced in the coming years, this changes the whole
scenario of the supply chain management the medical history. Drones are now more and more
advanced in delivering the blood, vaccines, birth control and the snake bite serum in the
backward where there is no medical facilities available in the rural areas. Krey, (2019) said that
that drones are going to decrease the dependencies on human and also decreases the cost of
assisting people. Being able to cross the long distance with the superior medical qualities are the
huge benefits for the medical industries. The supply chain management in the medical industries
are the changes the complete management of the drones and as the Lee & Haidari, (2017) said,
because of the rapid change in the supply management of the drones, these increases the flow of
medical services. Previously, the helicopters were used to supply even the small facilities in the
remote areas but the biggest disadvantage of the helicopters are the bigger size and also there is
the height limitations and here the drone is the best option for supplying the first aid to the
patients in the remote areas. Li, Greenwood & Kassem, (2018) develops the strategy for
improving the supply chain facility in the medical industries at both national and international

levels and also these strategies are found useful in the medical management. Drones are not only
useful in the medical management but also useful in the other sectors like in Army where the
drones can watch the activities of the rival countries and can take the suitable steps for the
country. The sky is now in everyone's limit and application of drone is now in the limitless and
also the UAV's gives the analytical data of the following areas and also this can be useful in the
flooded areas where the medical facilities are required and this can be useful in giving the faster
medical services at a flooded and in the remote areas. The drone deliveries are also used in
medical fields. The biggest threat of drones is the property damage due to bad weather or by the
higher temperature that can affect the medical supplies which can be blood and the blood
requires the cold areas to maintain the quality the maintaining temperature of the blood is 4
degree which is a very low temperature and the environmental temperature is of about 35-37
degree Centigrade which is very high as compare to the blood temperature and there is no such
type of refrigeration required in the preserving the blood so the companies regularly changing the
technologies in the drones and coolers are attached in the drones so that the blood will not be
decayed and can be used by the hospitals. The supply chain management in the medical
industries are regularly changing and now the drones are capable to supply every type of medical
treatments from one hospital to another hospital and also capable in transporting the medical
facilities to the hospital that is in the other countries and drones can easily cover the distance in a
very less time Poljak & Šterbenc, (2019). Drones are the greatest creation by the science and the
drones changes the complete system of supply chain because in previous years ships, flights,
lorry, trailers and containers were used and the transportation cost of the was very high and also
faced so many challenges during transportation and also the supplies were damaged by the
weather pressure and the long journey so the patient suffer due to the delay of the medical
supplies but the drone changes the complete methodology of supply chain management and now
the drones are capable to go in the typical areas where the humans and other human driven
machines cannot reach and also the human can face the problems because the climatic conditions
can affect the human bodies and here the drones are the human-less machines that are not
traceable easily by the rivals and supplies can be easily in the reach of patients in a very less time
Rabta, Wankmüller & Reiner, (2018).

CONCLUSION
The complete report summarize about the different challenges of drone application in the
health care supply chain and the use of drones in the medical industries. It also concludes about
the challenges and the measures during the supply of medical facilities from one place to another
and the drones now limits the distance because of the faster and qualitative services without any
damage to the medical product. It also summarizes about the Literature review about the
challenges faced by the drones like climatic conditions and temperature quality and the various
applications of drones in the medical supply management. Drone changes the complete scenario
of the supply chain management in medical industries and the other countries are also taking part
in the using the drones for the medical supplies and the other medical treatments.

REFERENCES
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