Virtual care and carbon footprint

August 2, 2023

Source: Anthesis study for Blue Shield California, July, 2023 LINK

Score one more for virtual visits! Researchers working for Blue Shield of California calculated that virtual visits can help reduce greenhouse gasses compared to in-person visits. Specifically, they performed a “lifecycle analysis” of the impact of provider, staff and patient commuting, electricity and natural gas use, wastewater, and medical waste at two large medical practices  that converted during 2020 to virtual visits due to the pandemic.

Implications for employers:

• Providing employees with virtual care options can not only improve access, these visits can cause less production of greenhouse gasses!

Thursday: Vaccine coverage gap

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