Sustainable health care Archives

A Randomized Noninferiority Trial to Compare Enteral to Parenteral Phosphate Replacement on Biochemistry, Waste, and Environmental Impact and Healthcare Cost in Critically Ill Patients With Mild to Moderate Hypophosphatemia – Chinh D Nguyen et al.

Lucia Marcello2024-07-31T16:10:56+10:00Carbon neutral, Climate change, Publications, Sustainable health care|

Hypophosphatemia occurs frequently. Enteral, rather than IV, phosphate replacement may reduce fluid replacement, cost, and waste. Our primary outcome was serum phosphate at 24 hours with a noninferiority margin of 0.2 mmol/L. Secondary outcomes included cost savings and environmental waste reduction and additional IV fluid [...]

Single-use synthetic plastic and natural fibre anaesthetic drug trays: a comparative life cycle assessment of environmental impacts – Stephen J. Lightfoot et al.

Lucia Marcello2024-07-31T12:03:15+10:00Carbon footprint, Carbon neutral, Climate change, Publications, Sustainable health care|

Single-use drug trays are widely used in anaesthesia procedures performed in Australia; however, their environmental impact has not been carefully assessed. A life cycle assessment was used to compare the carbon emissions resulting from the use of 10 types of single-use anaesthetic drug trays made [...]

How many carbon emissions are saved by doing one less MRI? – Scott McAlister et al.

Lucia Marcello2024-07-31T11:52:40+10:00Carbon footprint, Carbon neutral, Imaging, Publications, Sustainable health care|

Different methods to quantify the carbon impact of health care produce different answers. The top-down method, environmentally extended input output (EEIO) analysis, uses financial data to track money flows of products and services between sectors within an economy. Knowing both the direct emissions of each [...]

New lab tackles pressing challenge of healthcare sustainability – Launch of the Healthcare Carbon Lab at The University of Melbourne

Krista Verlis2024-07-29T14:53:54+10:00Health system, Low-value care, News, Sustainable health care|

The Healthcare Carbon Lab (HCL) confronts the pressing challenge of healthcare's environmental footprint. With healthcare responsible for a significant portion of Australia's carbon emissions and waste, the HCL aims to revolutionise sustainability within the sector. By measuring waste, carbon emissions, and energy usage in hospitals, [...]

How often are infusion sets for central venous catheters changed in Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Units? A point prevalence survey – Matthew H. Anstey et al.

Lucia Marcello2024-06-12T17:30:59+10:00Carbon footprint, Carbon neutral, Clinical guidelines, Low-value care, Publications, Sustainable health care|

Infusion sets (comprising the tubing, measuring burettes, fluid containers, transducers) that are connected to invasive vascular devices are changed on a regular basis in an effort to reduce bacterial colonisation and bloodstream infection. There is a balance between reducing infection and creating unnecessary waste. Current evidence suggests that for central venous catheters [...]

Blood gas sampling in the intensive care unit: A prospective before-and-after interventional study on the effect of an educational program on blood gas testing frequency – Benjamin Cunanan et al.

Lucia Marcello2024-06-12T13:21:23+10:00Carbon neutral, Overuse, Publications, Risk, Sustainable health care, Tests|

Blood gas analysis is the most commonly ordered test in the intensive care unit. Each investigation, however, comes with risks and costs to the patient and healthcare system. Evidence suggests that many tests are performed with no appropriate clinical indication.

Updating the Data: The Resource Consumption of Modern-Day Hemodialysis Systems – Katherine A. Barraclough et al.

Lucia Marcello2024-06-05T15:15:22+10:00Carbon footprint, Carbon neutral, Climate change, Kidney, Publications, Sustainable health care|

A pressing need exists for hemodialysis resource usage data based on current-day practice and hemodialysis systems. Accordingly, this study aimed to measure and compare the water and energy requirements of hemodialysis equipment in use in 2 Australian satellite hemodialysis units under standard operating conditions. Power [...]

Clinician and health service interventions to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions generated by healthcare: a systematic review – Kristen Pickles et al.

Lucia Marcello2024-06-05T13:40:38+10:00Carbon footprint, Carbon neutral, Climate change, Health system, Low-value care, Overtesting, Publications, Sustainable health care|

The delivery of modern healthcare is inadvertently exacerbating illness and injury to populations through its own pollution. The global healthcare sector—health services and its medical supply chain—is responsible for approximately 5% of global net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (>2 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e)) [...]

The Carbon Footprint of Peritoneal Dialysis in Australia – Scott McAlister et al.

Lucia Marcello2024-06-05T13:34:58+10:00Carbon footprint, Carbon neutral, Kidney, Publications, Sustainable health care|

As climate change escalates with increasing health impacts, healthcare must address its carbon footprint. A critical first step is understanding the sources and extent of emissions from commonly utilised clinical care pathways. We used attributional process-based life cycle analysis to quantify CO2 equivalent emissions associated [...]

Less is more for greener intensive care – Katy J. L. Bell & Rachel Stancliffe

Lucia Marcello2024-06-05T13:31:10+10:00Carbon footprint, Carbon neutral, Climate change, End of life, Low-value care, Overdiagnosis, Overtesting, Publications, Sustainable health care|

Climate change threatens human health and increases demand for healthcare. Global temperature is rising in near linear relationship with increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) in Earth’s atmosphere, bringing hotter and more extreme weather. Health consequences include direct injuries, deaths and illness, and indirect effects such as [...]

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