AI Article Synopsis
- - Climate change significantly impacts healthcare, which is also a notable source of greenhouse gas emissions.
- - This study analyzes the carbon footprint of virtual consultations for skin lesions versus in-person reviews, focusing on transportation emissions in New Zealand.
- - Findings reveal that virtual consultations save an average of 48 km and 11.17 kg CO2 per consultation, suggesting they can effectively reduce carbon emissions in healthcare.
Article Abstract
Background And Objectives: Climate change is one of the biggest threats to the healthcare sector. In addition, healthcare contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions. Virtual consultations are a growing tool to assess patients. The carbon emissions from virtual consultations have the potential to be much smaller than in-person consultations, predominantly through reduced transportation. This study assesses the carbon footprint of general practitioner referrals for skin lesions evaluated by a store-and-forward teledermatology service compared to an estimated equivalent in-person review.
Method: The carbon footprint of virtual consultations for skin lesions was compared to estimated equivalent in-person reviews based on the average transportation modalities in New Zealand.
Results: Virtual consultations for 484 patients resulted in an average saving of 48 km and 11.17 kg carbon dioxide equivalent per consultation compared to equivalent in-person review.
Discussion: This study encourages the use of store-and-forward skin lesion assessment as a way of reducing carbon emissions in the healthcare sector.
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Source |
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| http://dx.doi.org/10.31128/AJGP-08-23-6937 | DOI Listing |
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