Date Published:
2023 Jul 25
Abstract:
OBJECTIVES: The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic led to the expansion of virtual medicine as a method to provide patient care. We aimed to determine the impact of pediatric and young adult virtual medicine use on fossil fuel consumption, greenhouse gas and non-greenhouse traffic-related air pollutant emissions. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective analysis of all virtual medicine patients at a single quaternary-care children's hospital with a geocoded address in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts prior to (3/16/2019-3/15/2020) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (3/16/2020-3/15/2021). Primary outcomes included patient travel distance, gasoline consumption, carbon dioxide and fine particulate matter emissions as well as savings in main hospital energy use. RESULTS: There were 3,846 and 307,273 virtual visits performed with valid Massachusetts geocoded addresses prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic, respectively. During one year of the pandemic, virtual medicine services resulted in a total reduction of 620,231 gallons of fossil fuel use and $1,620,002 avoided expenditure as well as 5,492.9 metric tons of carbon dioxide and 186.3 kilograms of fine particulate matter emitted. There were 3.1 million fewer kilowatt hours used by the hospital intra-pandemic compared to the year prior. Accounting for equipment emissions, the combined intra-pandemic emission reductions are equivalent to the electricity required by 1,234 homes for one year. CONCLUSIONS: Widespread pediatric institutional use of virtual medicine provided environmental benefits. The true potential of virtual medicine for decreasing the environmental footprint of healthcare lies in scaling this mode of care to patient groups across the state and nation when medically feasible.
