Informatics faculty and alumnus' blockchain article wins 2019 Editor's Award

Lipscomb professors' article was the most viewed and downloaded in the international, peer-reviewed journal on blockchain technology.

Janel Shoun-Smith | 02/03/2020

Lipscomb’s faculty in health care informatics have been awarded the first ever Editor’s Choice Award from Partners in Digital Health, the publishers of the journal Blockchain in Healthcare Today.

Kevin Clauson, associate professor; Beth Breeden, associate professor; Cameron Davidson (’17), of PioneerRx at the time the article was written; and Timothy K. Mackey of University of California in San Diego – School of Medicine, were the authors of the most viewed and downloaded article since the journal’s inaugural publication date, making it the obvious choice for the editor’s award.

The article was titled: “Leveraging Blockchain Technology to Enhance Supply Chain Management in Healthcare: An exploration of challenges and opportunities in the health supply chain.” 

“This award is a good example of how Lipscomb University is leading the way in this area,” said Clauson. “From the very beginning of this project we had student involvement. As a student at Lipscomb, Cameron was among the first in the nation to work on a health care related blockchain project. This speaks to the innovative culture in our College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences.”

Clauson gives credit to Davidson for exploring the possibilities of integrating blockchain and pharmacy as part of a class project while he was a student at Lipscomb. His studies led to the collaboration described in the journal article. 

 

“We were honored to receive this recognition. The entire effort was rewarding and efficient on multiple levels in demonstrating the impact of blockchain in health care, the value of interprofessional collaboration, and inclusion of students in the research and publication life cycle,” said Breeden. “The combination of these educational and research experiences make our students more marketable regarding post-graduate employment. That is an exciting and rewarding part of these projects.”

The award was announced by the journal’s Editor-in-Chief John Halamka, Harvard Medical School’s first international health care innovation professor, at the ConV2X 2019 conference this past fall.

“Some suggest that blockchain has gone from the peak of inflated expectations to the trough of disillusionment, but our winning article illustrates that there are many use cases for which blockchain is the most appropriate technology to solve the problem,” said Halamka.

“The competition was very tight at the top with the supply chain article winning by 125 more total engagements than the next most popular article, and garnering 21 citations to date,” stated Tory Cenaj, founder and publisher of the journal.

With over 102,000 audience engagements, 76 citations and readership in more than 70 countries worldwide, Blockchain in Healthcare Today is the preeminent open-access international peer-review journal for strategic thought leaders, new-era practitioners, and future society stakeholders active in blockchain technology and intersecting innovations in healthcare.

Partners in Digital Health publishes journals and hosts conferences to bring thought leaders, academics, innovators and practitioners from private and public sectors together around the world to accelerate health care transformation, exchange knowledge and build consensus for a better future health society.

For free access to the article in the journal, go to https://doi.org/10.30953/bhty.v1.20.