Faced with the increasing burden of ever-changing regulations and guidelines, hospital organisations are reeling from a regulatory overload. In addition to the weight of backlogs and staff shortages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s no surprise that the healthcare sector is struggling to stay afloat in a sea of guidelines and regulations. While healthcare providers attempt to navigate the complicated world of regulations and guidelines – sustainability regulations are at serious risk of being thwarted by rapidly moving climate change targets. With concerns growing about the fragile state of our climate and healthcare systems in the spotlight – what can the healthcare sector do to keep up with evolving regulations and guidelines? And, how can MedTech suppliers help healthcare organisations maintain momentum and overcome regulatory barriers?
The challenge to keep pace with sustainability guidelines in healthcare
A growing regulatory epidemic
As hospital organisations face their most significant challenges to date with COVID-19, further hurdles appear in the form of ever-evolving sustainability guidelines and regulations. An overwhelming range of assessments and reports are required to prevent hospital organisations from facing hefty penalties and fines. With the healthcare sector already crippled by the recent pandemic, the need for a more effective way to manage regulatory compliance has never been more apparent.
With the healthcare sector being one of the largest greenhouse gas emitters 1 , the challenge to keep pace with sustainability guidelines and regulations has intensified considerably in recent times. Ensuring healthcare sustainability brings with it a unique and complex set of regulations and challenges that require careful consideration. Adhering to the complex and changing sustainability guidelines and regulations is often an intricate balancing act, between doing what’s right for the environment and doing what’s right for the healthcare system.
Sustainability guidelines - the scale of the problem
Understanding the magnitude of healthcare’s climate footprint may provide some insight into the real scale of the problem hospital organisations face in navigating sustainability guidelines.
Unsurprisingly, the accumulation of plastic waste in the form of personal protective equipment (PPE) and medical devices has increased exponentially as a result of the pandemic, with concerns regarding infectious disease contamination 2 . There are suggestions that the United States, for example, may have generated an entire year’s worth of medical waste in just two months 3 – contributing considerably more greenhouse gas emissions compared to the global aviation industry, for example. In addition to this, SUEZ reported a 50% increase in healthcare waste in France and a 30-50% increase in the Netherlands over a period of several weeks 4 .
Estimates of net emissions are startling, with 4.4% of global net emissions attributed to healthcare. Health Care Without Harm (HCWH), a non-profit network of European hospital organisations, estimates that if healthcare were a country, it would be the fifth-largest emitter on earth. In the absence of appropriate action, global healthcare emissions are expected to triple by 2050 compared to 2014, reaching an astounding six gigatons a year 5 . While healthcare-related greenhouse gas emissions vary considerably between countries, the HCWH report suggests that for Europe at least, greenhouse gas emissions have common origins 1 :
Evidently, there is an urgent need to tackle the growing carbon footprint of healthcare. In fact, the World Health Organisation states that “An environmentally sustainable health system would improve, maintain or restore health, while minimising negative impacts on the environment and leveraging opportunities to restore and improve it, to the benefit of the health and well-being of current and future generations.” 6
What are the current sustainability guidelines?
To help combat the ever-growing carbon footprint of healthcare, several countries within the European Union have collectively agreed to work towards complete decarbonisation. The Paris agreement and the European Green Deal pledge to limit global warming to below 2 °C 7 , reduce emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990, and make Europe the first carbon-neutral continent by 2050 8 .
Undoubtedly, attempting to keep up with sustainability guidelines and the associated complex goals and targets is a challenging task for the healthcare sector. But, where do hospital organisations start when it comes to chasing the moving sustainability target and how can they find the right support? The answer is to start with small and manageable changes that make substantial impact over time. Let’s take a look at a few examples and see where MedTech suppliers like Olympus may be able to help.
The goal of climate-neutral healthcare
Effective waste management in healthcare
The healthcare sector generates considerable amounts of emissions and waste due to the large consumption of energy and resources. The ever-increasing volume of disposable and pre-packaged medical devices is accelerating, particularly in western countries that tend to have greater healthcare-related expenditure. As surgical procedures outside of the operating room and home-based care have increased, so has the amount of waste generated in community healthcare settings, which poses additional problems when it comes to the management of waste.Single-use medical devices are a necessity for certain procedures, however, limiting their use where possible could be one way to reduce waste from packaging and decrease the environmental impact caused by improperly managed landfills and ash from incinerators that are notoriously high in heavy metals. Olympus aims to help healthcare providers reduce and manage the waste-related carbon footprint more efficiently by offering reusable medical devices, in addition to single-use. Internally, Olympus is committed to reaching the goal of Carbon neutrality by 2030, using effective and impactful reduction measures, including enhanced packaging efficiency 9 .
Making procurement more sustainable
Procurement is the largest contributor to the healthcare-related carbon footprint. With around 15,000 hospitals, the European healthcare sector is a major procurer of goods and services that have an impact on carbon footprint at each stage of the life cycle. The goal of sustainable procurement is to minimise the environmental impact of purchasing decisions, which takes careful consideration and planning.
One way to improve the carbon footprint of the procurement process is to ensure that MedTech suppliers are thinking about their environmental responsibility too. Olympus is passionate about providing environmentally sound goods and services and has integrated green procurement to help safeguard hospital organisations 9 . As a MedTech supplier committed to environmental health, Olympus continuously strives to: improve environmental health and safety performance; comply with current laws and regulations; reduce environmental impact through all business activities; and ensure transparency and reliability in sharing of information about environmental safety and health activities.
Efficient resource management in healthcare
Various factors contribute to the energy footprint of hospital organisations, but two key actions can help to improve the use of energy: reduce unnecessary usage and increase energy efficiency.
The best way for hospital organisations to improve energy and efficiency is through the proper maintenance of equipment in energy-intensive areas - such as the operating room. Regular maintenance not only ensures that the lifespan of equipment is extended, but reduces its carbon footprint.
Using a MedTech supplier, like Olympus, that provides regular service support, can help battle the ongoing energy efficiency crisis in healthcare and help hospital organisations meet their sustainability guidelines.
Summary
As the challenge to keep pace with sustainability guidelines hastens, hospital organisations face growing pressure to find new and innovative ways to reduce their carbon footprint.
In addition to implementing changes that improve waste and resource management within hospital organisations, utilising partnerships with medical equipment providers helps to address the growing need for hospital organisations to act upon sustainability driven guidelines and regulations. That may be through the sustainability activities of medical technology suppliers or internal changes that help to increase efficiencies. With support strategies for the healthcare sector in place, hospital organisations can better cope with the demands of ever-evolving sustainability guidelines.
