Improving environmental sustainability in outpatient clinics: Lessons from a waste audit

Background: The healthcare industry is the second leading contributor of waste in the United States. While there are multiple examples of medical waste audits in the literature, few were conducted in outpatient settings. The objective of this study was to utilize a waste audit to identify key waste...

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Autores principales:	Anita Lowe Taylor, Josh Levin, John Chan, Michelle Lee, Donald Kasitinon, Emily Miller, Paige Fox
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Elsevier 2021
Materias:	Medical waste Medical audit Recycling Waste management Climate change Environmental pollution Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/a893ff0798324628bfa124b903f16b93
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:a893ff0798324628bfa124b903f16b932021-11-18T04:54:12ZImproving environmental sustainability in outpatient clinics: Lessons from a waste audit2667-278210.1016/j.joclim.2021.100070https://doaj.org/article/a893ff0798324628bfa124b903f16b932021-10-01T00:00:00Zhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667278221000675https://doaj.org/toc/2667-2782Background: The healthcare industry is the second leading contributor of waste in the United States. While there are multiple examples of medical waste audits in the literature, few were conducted in outpatient settings. The objective of this study was to utilize a waste audit to identify key waste generators in an outpatient practice and start immediately reducing waste and greenhouse gas emissions. Materials and methods: This was a cross-sectional, observational study wherein waste from a total of 31 randomly selected encounters from December 2020 through June 2021 in the Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Sports and Spine clinics of an academic center was collected and weighed, and key waste generators were identified. Results: The outpatient surgical center produced the most waste per patient encounter (1,758 g), followed by in-clinic procedure visits (379 g per encounter). Clinicians who performed in-clinic procedures using pre-packaged procedure kits produced an estimated 819.5 kg more waste annually than those who selected individual sterile components for their procedures. Discussion: By identifying and developing interventions that target key waste generators, such as reducing the use of pre-packaged injection kits, we demonstrate how outpatient offices can immediately reduce waste. In doing so, we demonstrate the significant potential environmental savings of such measures.Anita Lowe TaylorJosh LevinJohn ChanMichelle LeeDonald KasitinonEmily MillerPaige FoxElsevierarticleMedical wasteMedical auditRecyclingWaste managementClimate changeEnvironmental pollutionPublic aspects of medicineRA1-1270Meteorology. ClimatologyQC851-999ENThe Journal of Climate Change and Health, Vol 4, Iss , Pp 100070- (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medical waste Medical audit Recycling Waste management Climate change Environmental pollution Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999
spellingShingle	Medical waste Medical audit Recycling Waste management Climate change Environmental pollution Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 Anita Lowe Taylor Josh Levin John Chan Michelle Lee Donald Kasitinon Emily Miller Paige Fox Improving environmental sustainability in outpatient clinics: Lessons from a waste audit
description	Background: The healthcare industry is the second leading contributor of waste in the United States. While there are multiple examples of medical waste audits in the literature, few were conducted in outpatient settings. The objective of this study was to utilize a waste audit to identify key waste generators in an outpatient practice and start immediately reducing waste and greenhouse gas emissions. Materials and methods: This was a cross-sectional, observational study wherein waste from a total of 31 randomly selected encounters from December 2020 through June 2021 in the Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Sports and Spine clinics of an academic center was collected and weighed, and key waste generators were identified. Results: The outpatient surgical center produced the most waste per patient encounter (1,758 g), followed by in-clinic procedure visits (379 g per encounter). Clinicians who performed in-clinic procedures using pre-packaged procedure kits produced an estimated 819.5 kg more waste annually than those who selected individual sterile components for their procedures. Discussion: By identifying and developing interventions that target key waste generators, such as reducing the use of pre-packaged injection kits, we demonstrate how outpatient offices can immediately reduce waste. In doing so, we demonstrate the significant potential environmental savings of such measures.
format	article
author	Anita Lowe Taylor Josh Levin John Chan Michelle Lee Donald Kasitinon Emily Miller Paige Fox
author_facet	Anita Lowe Taylor Josh Levin John Chan Michelle Lee Donald Kasitinon Emily Miller Paige Fox
author_sort	Anita Lowe Taylor
title	Improving environmental sustainability in outpatient clinics: Lessons from a waste audit
title_short	Improving environmental sustainability in outpatient clinics: Lessons from a waste audit
title_full	Improving environmental sustainability in outpatient clinics: Lessons from a waste audit
title_fullStr	Improving environmental sustainability in outpatient clinics: Lessons from a waste audit
title_full_unstemmed	Improving environmental sustainability in outpatient clinics: Lessons from a waste audit
title_sort	improving environmental sustainability in outpatient clinics: lessons from a waste audit
publisher	Elsevier
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/a893ff0798324628bfa124b903f16b93
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Improving environmental sustainability in outpatient clinics: Lessons from a waste audit

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