Corona as a catalyst for greener healthcare

Recently the corona crisis has grabbed everyone’s undivided attention. Topics that used to be high on our agendas are now playing second fiddle. One such theme is sustainability, not least in healthcare, the sector that all eyes are now on. It is worth considering whether the corona crisis is a bump on the road for making healthcare greener if it could act as a catalyst and accelerate it.

Corona provides us with a crash course in sustainable and future-proof care, a silver lining to the misery it has caused. It has taught us that hospital care does not require as much visits as was customary. The carbon emissions of travel movements of patients to hospitals can structurally decrease by 25%, an annual reduction of 75 kilotons CO2. That is equivalent to the annual emissions of 10,000 households or the carbon reductions realized by 200 football fields full of solar panels. To seize this opportunity we must improve the remote care proposition: Make remote care the new standard, improve the user experience for patients and healthcare professionals, reward patients for sustainable behavior and incentivize remote care financially.

Download the full report 'Corona: katalysator of struikelblok voor groenere ziekenhuiszorg?' (in Dutch) here »

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Eyeopener door coronacrisis: ziekenhuis kan veel duurzamen

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