The potential of virtual healthcare technologies to reduce healthcare services’ carbon footprint

Title
The potential of virtual healthcare technologies to reduce healthcare services’ carbon footprint
Publication Date
2024-05-16
Author(s)
Usher, Kim
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9686-5003
Email: kusher@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:kusher
Williams, Jen
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-8922-0272
Email: jwill259@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:jwill259
Jackson, Debra
Type of document
Journal Article
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
Frontiers Media SA
Place of publication
Switzerland
DOI
10.3389/fpubh.2024.1394095
Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the potential to reduce our carbon footprint especially by reducing travel. We aim to describe healthcare and health education services' contribution to the global climate emergency and identify the need for increased use of virtual health service delivery and undergraduate/postgraduate education to help reduce the impact of health service and health education delivery on the environment. Health care services, as one of the largest contributors to carbon emissions, must take steps to rapidly reduce their carbon footprint. Health services have unfortunately paid little attention to this issue until recently. Virtual healthcare and education have a valuable role in transition to a net carbon-zero outcome. Given the increasing use of and satisfaction with virtual health services such as telehealth, and the increase in virtual education opportunities, it is important that a concerted effort is undertaken to increase their use across health services and education in the future.

Link
ISSN
2296-2565
Start page
1
End page
4
Rights
Attribution 4.0 International

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