Sustainability in healthcare is a team sport: Providers and vendors must work together

Sustainability is a high-priority issue for hospital and health system leaders.

A hospital patient in the United States generates approximately 33.8 pounds of waste per day. Of the 14,000 tons of waste generated daily by U.S. healthcare facilities, between 20 and 25 percent is plastic.

Healthcare organizations that have adopted sustainability programs report reductions in waste and costs, as well as positive feedback from employees and communities alike.

During a Becker's Hospital Review webinar sponsored by Ambu, five healthcare leaders discussed the importance of sustainability and how their organizations are addressing this issue:

• Ryan Kirane, vice president supply chain services, sustainability officer, HonorHealth (Scottsdale, Ariz.)
• Marie Langley, chief executive officer, Desert Valley Medical Group (Victorville, Calif.)
• Stephen Leffler, MD, president and chief operating officer, The University of Vermont Medical Center (Burlington, Vt.)
• William Morice II, MD, PhD, president and chief executive officer, Mayo Collaborative Services/Mayo Clinic Laboratories (Rochester, Minn.)
• Wes Scruggs, vice president of corporate accounts, Ambu

Five key takeaways were:

1. Both healthcare organizations and vendors are taking creative approaches to reduce plastic waste. HonorHealth is part of a regional collaborative that includes large integrated delivery networks (IDNs), other anchor institutions, the cities of Phoenix and Scottsdale and local universities. This group is testing local solutions to coordinate operating room plastic waste recycling across the region. It has also launched a Styrofoam program. "Our collaborative identified a solution that converts clean Styrofoam from pharmacy and lab packaging into construction blocks," Mr. Kirane said. "This diverts Styrofoam from landfills and has a circular economy component because it supports employment at the construction block manufacturing plant."
   
   Over a decade ago, an OR nurse at the University of Vermont Medical Center initiated a recycling program for polypropylene-based surgical blue wrap. "We recycled tons of it and then we decided we could do more," Dr. Leffler said. "Now the recycled blue wrap goes into a special stream that is repurposed into making blue wash basins that we buy for patient use."
   
   On the vendor side, Ambu has partnered with a third party and developed a takeback program in which its products are incinerated to generate energy. "We want to advance to a pure recycling program that shreds the plastic and creates pellets that can be reused for tertiary products," Mr. Scruggs said. "One of our goals is to create a circular product life cycle, so we limit our environmental footprint from a landfill and carbon footprint perspective."
   
   
2. Reduced utilization of medical supplies is another path to sustainability. According to Dr. Morice, Mayo Clinic Laboratories conducts between 25 million and 26 million tests a year for Mayo Clinic facilities, as well as for healthcare organizations around the country that send in patient specimens for analysis. "Many of these tests — as much as 15 to 20 percent — may not be necessary," Dr. Morice said. "We are focused on utilization efforts that will reduce downstream product waste."
   
   Digital biomarkers could replace physical biospecimens and be incorporated into a more circular workflow that creates less waste. "We are very engaged with vendors and want to think about a future state of diagnostics that is more sustainable and improves patient access," Dr. Morice said.
   
   Any reduction in waste is good for the environment and the bottom line. "Eliminating waste will also reduce costs," Ms. Langley said. "That's our biggest struggle from a clinic and inpatient care perspective."
   
   
3. The sustainability of medical devices can be addressed using a variety of strategies. Many IDNs are leaning into medical device reprocessing for pulse oximeters and other instruments. Last year, HonorHealth diverted nearly 30 tons of waste from landfills through device reprocessing efforts.
   
   Another approach is to look at alternative materials. Ambu, for example, has incorporated bioplastics into its production processes. "These are plastics that come from second-generation, plant-based seed oils that don't impact the food supply," Mr. Scruggs said. "Where we can use bioplastics, we are reducing our carbon footprint for the manufacturing process by 70 percent. That's a tremendous benefit for our partners on the provider side."
   
   
4. Hospitals and health systems have adopted internal and external frameworks to measure sustainability progress. Many hospitals and health systems are tracking their progress using key metrics and dashboards. "Some measures are easier to attain than others," Mr. Kirane said. "In some cases, we can generate data internally. In others, we have to partner with vendors and municipalities to pull the information."
   
   Healthcare organizations are also signing on to the HHS Climate Change Pledge and participating in Practice Greenhealth. From an accreditation perspective, The Joint Commission has introduced an optional process for organizations that want to receive Sustainable Healthcare Certification.
   
   Acknowledging employee involvement in sustainability initiatives is essential. "It's important that when people come forward with ideas, we support them and create visibility into their successes," Dr. Morice said. "That increases employee engagement and energizes people."
   
   For example, one of Mayo Clinic Laboratories' high-volume labs wanted to be a forerunner in paperless operations. The lab reduced paper usage by over 75 percent — around 500,000 sheets of paper per year.
   
   
5. Healthcare sustainability solutions must include vendors. The importance of vendors to sustainability in the healthcare sector can't be underestimated. "Everyone on the provider side can get to 100 percent renewable energy, but 80 percent of their carbon footprint will still come from vendor partners," Mr. Scruggs said. "We are the biggest part of the sustainability equation for providers."
   
   Vendors must develop plans to improve sustainability and those need to be validated through the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTI). It's also critical that vendors and providers use standardized measurements for sustainability so everyone is working in the same direction toward the same goals.
   
   "Looking ahead, sustainability will be an ingrained part of all our processes," Mr. Scruggs said. "The more we can incorporate it into everything we do on the vendor and provider sides, the more impactful we'll be together. Sustainability serves our communities and the globe."

To view this webinar on-demand, click here.

To learn more about our sponsor, Ambu, click here.