Work

Ways To Build a Greener Healthcare System; Comment on "A Review of the Applicability of Current Green Practices in Healthcare Facilities"

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Green practices have become the responsibility of healthcare system in the current warming planet. The article by Soares and colleagues reviews the literature on circular economy implementation in the European Union (EU) and its application in healthcare system. In this commentary, we complement the findings by discussing ways to build a greener healthcare system and introducing life cycle assessment (LCA), a method to quantify the environmental impacts of products and services in healthcare. LCA is useful to compare the environmental impacts of different clinical products and pathways. Within the healthcare system, avoiding overdiagnosis and overprescribing, improving building energy efficiency, and fleet electrification are important green practices. In addition, we cannot ignore the differences in regional energy system when comparing the carbon footprint of different healthcare systems.

Source: International Journal of Health Policy and Management

DOI: 10.34172/ijhpm.9157

Authors: Rui Wu, Yiming Liang

Institution: Nanjing Normal University

Language: English

Topic: Environmental Impact and Sustainability

Subfield: Environmental Engineering

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Responsible consumption and production, Climate action, Good health and well-being

Open Access status: diamond

OpenAlex ID: W4410936721

FWCI: 0.292

Cites:

Cited by: 1

Related to: 10