Carbon emission reduction associated with utilisation of telehealth in outpatient clinics in an Australian quaternary health service

Objective: To assess the impact of implementing telehealth in outpatient clinics on the carbon emissions associated with the delivery of health care. Design and Setting: Retrospective cohort study in large metropolitan quaternary referral health service from January 2021- December 2022. Participants...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Asia Pacific journal of health management 2024-10, Vol.19 (2), p.55-60
Main Authors: Redmond, Jessica, Fazio, Timothy, Darlison, Phoebe R, Ioppi, Barbara, Page, Monika, Barraclough, Katherine A, Kanhutu, Kudzai, Dunne, Ben
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Carbon Emissions
Evaluation
Health
Healthcare
Medical care
Medical telematics
Outpatient Clinics
Patients
Psychology
Social aspects
Statistical methods
Telehealth
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Objective: To assess the impact of implementing telehealth in outpatient clinics on the carbon emissions associated with the delivery of health care. Design and Setting: Retrospective cohort study in large metropolitan quaternary referral health service from January 2021- December 2022. Participants: All patients who attended an outpatient clinic appointment during the study period, either in-person, via telehealth or via telephone. Main Outcome Measures: The estimation of carbon emissions in tonnes (t) of CO2-equivalent (CO2-e) associated with in-person and telehealth appointments based on emissions associated with travel, telehealth platform usage and N95 mask usage. Results: There were 571,121 outpatient clinic appointments during the study period. Of the appointments, 251,458 (44%) were conducted remotely, resulting in an estimated reduction in 3,629t of CO2-e emissions in the two-year period. Telehealth consultations in this time contributed 4.5t of CO2-equivalent emissions. The total emission usage of telehealth clinic was only 0.12% of emissions generated from face-to-face clinic appointments. Conclusion: Telehealth offers the opportunity of substantial carbon emissions reduction within the healthcare sector, while also providing cost and time-saving benefits for healthcare services and patients. Limitations include generalisation of transportation modes and the retrospective nature of the data collection.
ISSN:1833-3818
2204-3136
DOI:10.24083/apjhm.v19i2.3665