Estimated carbon emissions and support cost savings to telemedicine for patients with tracheal diseases

Pedro Prosperi Desenzi Ciaralo; Paulo Francisco Guerreiro Cardoso; Helio Minamoto; Benoit Jacques Bibas; Carlos Roberto Ribeiro de Carvalho; Paulo Manuel Pego-Fernandes

doi:10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2024.105757

Estimated carbon emissions and support cost savings to telemedicine for patients with tracheal diseases

Int J Med Inform. 2024 Dec 7:195:105757. doi: 10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2024.105757. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Pedro Prosperi Desenzi Ciaralo¹, Paulo Francisco Guerreiro Cardoso², Helio Minamoto², Benoit Jacques Bibas², Carlos Roberto Ribeiro de Carvalho³, Paulo Manuel Pego-Fernandes²

Affiliations

¹ Division of Thoracic Surgery, Instituto do Coracao do Hospital das Clinicas HCFMUSP da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Sao Paulo, Brazil. Electronic address: pedropdc91@gmail.com.
² Division of Thoracic Surgery, Instituto do Coracao do Hospital das Clinicas HCFMUSP da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Sao Paulo, Brazil.
³ Division of Pulmonology, Instituto do Coracao do Hospital das Clinicas HCFMUSP da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Sao Paulo, Brazil.

PMID: 39671853
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2024.105757

Abstract

Objective: The patient's journey to the medical center for an outpatient visit can often mean hours of travel in their vehicle, leading to increased expenses and greater carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions into the environment. The study demonstrates the estimated carbon emission and cost savings associated with a telemedicine program dedicated to patients with tracheal disease in the Brazilian public health system.

Methods: Cross-sectional study of telemedicine visits for patients with tracheal disease referred to a public academic hospital between August 1, 2020, and December 30, 2023. The consultations occurred in a telemedicine department using the hospital's proprietary platform. The analysis included the round-trip distance savings using home postal codes; CO2 emissions savings by transportation using the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) adapted to the Brazilian reality ("Programa Brasileiro GHG Protocol"); and the cost savings in transportation and support using the Brazil Ministry of Health program.

Results: 1767 telemedicine visits with 680 patients were conducted, 363 (53.4 %) male and 317 (46.6 %) female, a median [IQR] age of 33 [12.0-51.0] years. Patients were from 170 Brazilian cities from 22 states. There were 2.219.544,3 round-trip kilometers saved (median per patient [IQR] 542,88km [190,36-2.672,6]), corresponding to an estimated 353.097,55kg of CO2 emissions savings (median per patient [IQR] 102,56kg [36,56-496,96]). The cost savings was 305.187,96 dollars (median per patient [IQR] $48,22 [24,97-162,51] dollars).

Conclusion: Telemedicine consultations, in addition to significantly reducing carbon emissions and costs, promote greater accessibility and sustainability in medical care. These findings may influence public policies to expand telemedicine programs, especially in remote regions, and strengthen environmental initiatives in healthcare.

Keywords: Costs savings; Environment impact; Telemedicine; Tracheal diseases.