Evaluating the Impact of Telehealth on Carbon Footprint During Three Phases of the Pandemic at a Rural Academic Medical Center

Résumé fourni par la source

Background: Climate change is primarily driven by greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO 2 ). Telehealth visits have been found to mitigate carbon emissions by reducing patient and physician transport. Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) is the most rural academic medical center in the country, serving a population where the majority of patients reach the hospital by car. No large study or systematic review has evaluated the impact of telehealth visits on CO 2 emissions (CO 2 e) across multiple specialties in a purely rural setting. Further, no sizable rurally focused study has compared CO 2 e avoided during the various stages of the pandemic. Methods: We extracted data for all outpatient telehealth visits at DHMC from three periods: prepandemic, early pandemic, and late pandemic. The extracted data included the pandemic stage of the virtual visit, the type of visit (video or telephone), the specialty, and the distance from the patient's home to DHMC. Results: The total CO 2 e avoided among all three pandemic stages analyzed in this study was 23,658,898 kg ( n = 251,832). During period 1, the mean driving distance = 159.0 miles; CO 2 e avoided per encounter = 128.3 kg; period 2, mean distance = 84.85 miles; average CO 2 e avoided per encounter = 68.47 CO 2 e kg; and period 3, mean distance = 112.9 miles; average CO 2 e avoided per encounter = 91.08 kg. Conclusions: This data supported long distances to the medical center and large savings in CO 2 e avoided across multiple specialties that spanned all pandemic periods. Further, this level of averted emissions could translate to over $3M in saved fuel costs and the avoidance of six excess deaths. While discussions of the future of telehealth commonly focus on access, use cases, technology, costs, and satisfaction, the impact on carbon footprint is an additional important metric, particularly in largely rural regions.

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