Carbon emission savings and short‐term health care impacts from telemedicine: An evaluation in epilepsy

Abstract

Objective Health systems make a sizeable contribution to national emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to global climate change. The UK National Health Service is committed to being a net zero emitter by 2040, and a potential contribution to this target could come from reductions in patient travel. Achieving this will require actions at many levels. We sought to determine potential savings and risks over the short term from telemedicine through virtual clinics. Methods During the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐2‐CoV) pandemic, scheduled face‐to‐face epilepsy clinics at a specialist site were replaced by remote teleclinics. We used a standard methodology applying conversion factors to calculate emissions based on the total saved travel distance. A further conversion factor was used to derive emissions associated with electricity consumption to deliver remote clinics from which net savings could be calculated. Patients’ records and clinicians were interrogated to identify any adverse clinical outcomes. Results We found that enforced telemedicine delivery for over 1200 patients resulted in the saving of ~224 000 km of travel with likely avoided emissions in the range of 35 000–40 000 kg carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) over a six and half month period. Emissions arising directly from remote delivery were calculated to be <200 kg CO2e (~0.5% of those for travel), representing a significant net reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Only one direct adverse outcome was identified, with some additional benefits identified anecdotally. Significance The use of telemedicine can make a contribution toward reduced emissions in the health care sector and, in the delivery of specialized epilepsy services, had minimal adverse clinical outcomes over the short term. However, these outcomes will likely vary with clinic locations, medical specialties and conditions.

Health care in rural areas: proposal of a new telemedicine program assisted from the reference health centers, for a sustainable digitization and its contribution to the carbon footprint reduction

“…A recent study ( Blenkinsop et al., 2021 ) calculates the distance saved by telemedicine services in the epilepsy speciality and determines that for a distance of 224000 km, between 35000-40000 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent are saved, very much in line with the data obtained in this study.…”

Assessing the carbon footprint of digital health interventions: a scoping review

“…The study designs included retrospective audits ( n = 6, 46%), 27 , 28 , 34 , 35 , 37 , 38 prospective studies ( n = 2, 15%), 29 , 31 a case report ( n = 1, 8%), 32 a case study ( n = 1, 8%), 36 a methods study ( n = 1, 8%), 30 a scoping review ( n = 1, 8%), 11 and a simulation study ( n = 1, 8%). 33 The sampling methods implemented were mostly purposive ( n = 10, 77%), 27–29 , 31 , 32 , 34–38 followed by simulation modeling ( n = 1, 8%), 33 theoretical sampling ( n = 1, 8%), 30 and one, a scoping review used database mining ( n = 1, 8%).…”

“… 33 The sampling methods implemented were mostly purposive ( n = 10, 77%), 27–29 , 31 , 32 , 34–38 followed by simulation modeling ( n = 1, 8%), 33 theoretical sampling ( n = 1, 8%), 30 and one, a scoping review used database mining ( n = 1, 8%). 11 The outcomes measured for DHT environmental impact included carbon dioxide equivalent ( n = 10, 77%), 27–31 , 33–37 energy consumption ( n = 6, 46%), 27 , 28 , 31 , 32 , 34 , 36 other greenhouse gas emissions ( n = 4, 31%), 33 , 35–37 waste and toxic chemicals ( n = 2, 15%), 35 , 36 materials (eg, paper, X-ray-related consumables, fuel) ( n = 2, 15%), 35 , 36 water consumption ( n = 2, 15%), 27 , 36 and other environmental considerations (eg, trees to be planted to offset emissions) ( n = 2, 15%). 29 , 36 Note that some studies measured more than one outcome.…”

Green Information System (GIS) Model in the Conference Sector: Exploring Attendees’ Adoption Behaviors for Conference Apps

“…In other words, emissions arising from telemedicine were only about 0.5% as compared to the emissions by travel, leading to significant amount savings of greenhouse gas emissions in the environment. 26 …”