Medicine and Health

Telemedicine and the environment: life cycle environmental emissions from in-person and virtual clinic visits

C. L. Thiel, N. Mehta, et al.

This study reveals that telemedicine significantly reduced greenhouse gas emissions during clinic visits at Stanford Health Care. Conducted by Cassandra L. Thiel and her colleagues, the research highlights how virtual care can play a key role in lowering environmental impacts while maintaining access to healthcare.

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Abstract

This study uses a Life Cycle Assessment with retrospective clinical data from Stanford Health Care (SHC) in 2019–2021 to determine the environmental emissions associated with in-person and virtual clinic visits. SHC saw a 13% increase in clinic visits, but due to the rise in telemedicine services, the Greenhouse Gas emissions (GHGs) from these visits decreased 36% between 2019 and 2021. Telemedicine helped SHC avoid approximately 17,000 metric tons of GHGs in 2021. Telemedicine is an important component for the reduction of GHGs in healthcare systems; however, it cannot replace every clinic visit and proper triaging and tracking systems should be in place to avoid duplicative care.

Publisher

npj Digital Medicine

Published On

May 09, 2023

Authors

Cassandra L. Thiel, Natasha Mehta, Cory Sean Sejo, Lubna Qureshi, Meagan Moyer, Vincent Valentino, Jason Saleh

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