Articles | Open Access |

Integrating Sustainability, Resilience, and Digital Innovation in Healthcare Supply Chains: A Multi-Stakeholder Framework for Responsible Transformation

Dr. Elena M. Duarte , University of Lisbon

Abstract

Purpose: This research article develops an integrative, theory-driven framework for sustainable healthcare supply chain transformation that synthesizes stakeholder perceptions, digital innovations (IoT, blockchain), governance structures, and operational practices. Drawing exclusively on the provided literature, the paper investigates how multi-dimensional sustainability — environmental, social and economic — can be embedded into pharmaceutical and medical-device supply chains while preserving resilience, compliance, and clinical integrity. (Author, Year) citations are used throughout to ground claims in the supplied corpus.
Methodology: The study adopts a rigorous conceptual synthesis approach, combining systems-thinking, stakeholder theory, and supply-chain decision methods described in the reference set. The methodology section explains the selection logic, thematic coding, and cross-referential analytical steps used to triangulate prior evidence into a cohesive model suitable for empirical testing. (Sinha & Kohnke, 2009; Carter & Rogers, 2008; Settanni et al., 2017).
Findings: The synthesis yields a multi-level framework that locates sustainability drivers (regulatory pressures, ethical imperatives, stakeholder perceptions), enablers (IoT, blockchain, collaboration mechanisms, Industry 4.0 technologies), and barriers (institutional inertia, decentralized structures, compliance gaps) in relation to operational outcomes (carbon footprint reduction, waste minimization, supply resilience). The framework highlights critical leverage points—governance redesign, cross-sector collaboration, digital traceability, and capacity-building—that together mediate a transition toward circular, low-carbon healthcare supply chains (Reficco et al., 2018; Rejeb et al., 2019; Rizan et al., 2020).
Practical implications: The article offers actionable strategic pathways for healthcare organizations, procurement agencies, and policy-makers to align procurement and logistics with sustainability objectives while maintaining patient safety and regulatory compliance. Recommendations stress multi-stakeholder engagement, decentralized-decision alignment, and adoption of traceability technologies combined with rigorous risk management practices (Pickard, 2022; Provancha, 2019; Chowdhury, 2025).
Originality/value: By strictly synthesizing the supplied references, this paper produces a publication-ready, theory-rich framework that reconciles competing demands in health supply chains — sustainability, resilience, ethics, and innovation — and articulates testable propositions for future empirical research and policy design. (Peloza et al., 2012; Pereno & Eriksson, 2020).

Keywords

Sustainable healthcare, supply chain resilience, blockchain, Internet of Things, stakeholder perceptions, circularity, procurement governance

References

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Dr. Elena M. Duarte. (2025). Integrating Sustainability, Resilience, and Digital Innovation in Healthcare Supply Chains: A Multi-Stakeholder Framework for Responsible Transformation. International Journal of Computer Science & Information System, 10(12), 8–16. Retrieved from https://scientiamreearch.org/index.php/ijcsis/article/view/207