Exploring the Environmental Impact of Telemedicine: A Life Cycle Assessment

Abstract

Background: Telemedicine has emerged as a potential solution to mitigate the significant greenhouse gas emissions of the healthcare sector. A comprehensive evaluation is required to quantify the environmental benefits of its implementation. Objectives: The study aims to compare the environmental sustainability of in-person and virtual examinations for heart failure patients. Methods: A standard life cycle assessment has been applied to quantify the equivalent CO2 of direct and indirect activities required to release a medical examination (virtual or physical) for a patient in an Italian hospital. Inputs of the analysis include electronic devices of hospital and patients, energy consumption, wastes, internet usage and patient travel. Depending on the type of visit (virtual or physical), inputs have been processed differently, considering actual consumption and utilization. Results: Televisit reduces emissions from 9.77 kgCO2e to 0.41 kgCO2e. Transport and internet data use are key inputs for in-person (i.e., 98%) and telemedicine visits (i.e., 72%), respectively. Discussion: Given the frequent car travels, telemedicine emerges as a tool to improve environmental benefits and reduce time for patients and caregivers.