Optimizing Smart Ecosystems Using DAO: Collaborative Hospital Location Decision-Making

Abstract

The traditional top-down approach to hospital location decision-making often leads to inefficiencies and fails to address communities’ evolving needs. This paper proposes a novel smart ecosystem planning model that leverages advanced technologies, including blockchain and smart contracts, to enhance hospital site selection processes. We propose a model based on the Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) concept to manage healthcare location decisions. Our study focuses on implementing this model in New Zealand (NZ), by analyzing long-term healthcare needs and optimize resource allocation for new healthcare facilities. The proposed smart ecosystem empowers many stakeholders to participate actively in decision-making. This collaborative approach ensures hospital locations are chosen based on comprehensive, data-driven insights, leading to improved healthcare delivery, operational efficiency, and equitable service access. Our findings provide valuable managerial insights for healthcare administrators and policymakers and offer a scalable model that other regions and countries can adopt to enhance healthcare infrastructure planning.