Hospitals can save money by ‘greening’ the supply chain
IRVING, TEXAS – Hospitals are beginning to advocate for green practices, but it doesn’t just happen without a business plan. Providers need to put policies and procedures in place that keep physicians and employees mindful of the environment and that make green activities easier and more consistent.
One of the first places to start can be in ordering supplies, an area where information and certification for environmental stewardship and safety already exists.
Novation, a healthcare supply contracting company, has developed suggested policies and procedures for establishing environmental preferable purchasing. The criteria and descriptions offer insight on how to incorporate reasonable targets for environmental practices that are also financially viable and improve patient health in their organization.
For example, Novation tags its contracted products with environmental attributes, such as “latex-free” or “packaging efficiencies” to help healthcare organizations locate and buy products that meet their sustainability targets, said Jennifer Waddell, Novation senior clinical manager.
Green practices can include recycling, management of hazardous medical materials, packaging and shipping supplies and information technology.
While adopting an environmental purchasing policy is optional, it can help an organization establish purchasing processes that “result in the procurement of sustainable products and services, particularly with multiple competing demands for resources,” Waddell said.
The environmental policy template is divided into sections so that providers can select the aspects that fit their organization, including sample policy language in short, easy-to-understand statements; definitions and certification programs; and materials of concern, such as carcinogens, reproductive toxic chemicals, mercury, corrosives and even fragrances.
The policy package also describes environmental impact considerations on air, water and land use of the manufacture, use and end of life of products and materials that hospitals purchase.
Novation developed its recommendations in collaboration with manufacturers, vendors, non-profit groups that advocate the greening of the health supply chain and healthcare professionals, including from VHA and UHC member hospitals.
Some hospital systems are getting involved in green practices by recycling and installing energy-efficient lighting. Johns Hopkins University Hospital and the Mayo Clinic re-use certain one-time devices after a re-processor has sterilized and repackaged the tools.
Sometimes devices have been opened in preparation for use but have not been used, said Martin Makary, MD, a surgeon, medical professor and researcher at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Md.
For example, blood pressure cuffs, clamps and orthopedic drill bits and burrs, scissors and staplers can be reprocessed at a facility approved by the Food and Drug Administration. “Many instruments don’t even touch the patient,” said Makary.
A lot of hospitals may be spending more on waste and not even know it. For example, Hopkins has saved $100,000 over a number of months by reducing 16 percent of the amount of medical waste and by putting it in the correct containers.
After studying the problem, a team at Hopkins started an education campaign about red bag waste, which is regulated hazardous medical waste, and positioned the appropriate containers more effectively. Clinicians often throw waste into the closest trash receptacle, he said. They are not thinking about walking three feet further to put waste in the correct bag.
In a December report, Practice GreenHealth, a healthcare membership organization that advocates for environmental practices, found that 141 reporting hospitals saved $19 million in avoided solid and hazardous waste disposal fees through recycling and diversion programs. Three-fourths of the hospitals reported having formalized plans for using green cleaning products, the group said in its annual Sustainability Benchmark Report.
