Ways to Build a Greener Healthcare System; Comment on “A Review of the Applicability of Current Green Practices in Healthcare Facilities”

Articles in Press

Document Type : Commentary

Authors

School of Business, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China

Abstract

Green practices have become the responsibility of healthcare system in the current warming planet. The article by Soares and colleagues reviews the literature on circular economy implementation in the European Union (EU) and its application in healthcare system. In this commentary, we complement the findings by discussing ways to build a greener healthcare system and introducing life cycle assessment (LCA), a method to quantify the environmental impacts of products and services in healthcare. LCA is useful to compare the environmental impacts of different clinical products and pathways. Within the healthcare system, avoiding overdiagnosis and overprescribing, improving building energy efficiency, and fleet electrification are important green practices. In addition, we cannot ignore the differences in regional energy system when comparing the carbon footprint of different healthcare systems. 

Keywords

References

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International Journal of Health Policy and Management

Articles in Press, Corrected Proof
Available Online from 14 May 2025

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History

  • Received Date: 15 April 2025
  • Revised Date: 08 May 2025
  • Accepted Date: 11 May 2025
  • First Published Date: 14 May 2025

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