Fit for the Future? A New Approach in the Debate about What Makes Healthcare Systems Really Sustainable

Abstract

Abstract:As healthcare systems face enormous challenges, sustainability is seen as a crucial requirement for making them fit for the future. However, there is no consensus with regard to either the definition of the term or the factors that characterize a "sustainable healthcare system". Therefore, the aim of this article is twofold. First, it gives examples of the existing literature about sustainable healthcare systems and analyzes this literature with regard to its understanding of sustainability and the strengths and weaknesses of the different approaches. The article then identifies crucial factors for sustainable healthcare systems, and the result, a conceptual framework consisting of five distinct and interacting factors, can be seen as a starting point for further research.

The Barriers for Voluntary Environmental Management Systems—The Case of EMAS in Hospitals

“…The sustainability challenge for hospitals is said to encompass three key factors that need to be balanced: the needs of patients, economic issues, and environmental issues [49]. However, when talking about sustainability, the focus in the healthcare sector has long been on financial issues [50][51][52], with environmental influences and responsibilities of hospitals given a lower priority [53]. As the literature demonstrates, hospitals consume materials, energy, and water and release various forms of waste and emissions into the water, soil, and air through their clinical activities [54][55][56][57][58][59][60].…”

The Role of Management Control Systems and Top Teams in Implementing Environmental Sustainability Policies

“…Furthermore, by implementing environmental sustainability policies, hospitals not only contribute to a healthier environment but also improve population health by reducing pollution and reducing the use of community resources such as water and energy [4,5]. For example, hospitals are organizations that use a lot of energy (e.g., refrigeration facilities, food services or computer centers), so the adoption of an energy efficiency policy-a major environmental sustainability strategy-can reduce costs and improve efficiency and performance in the long-term [6,7]. However, the implementation of these environmental initiatives often fails…”

Systemic Design for Sustainable Healthcare

“…If at first it was linked closely to economic aspects, further attempts to define it considered the importance to balance patients and workers needs, economic and environmental costs, social and cultural dimensions to create a system that works in harmony with people and the environment, preserving resources for future generations (Fischer, 2015). Despite these definitions, so far the concept of sustainability in healthcare has been related mainly to financial issues whereas little attention has been paid to other social and environmental dimensions (Marimuthu and Paulose, 2016).…”

“…The main key elements emerged from literature review include: long-term planning and capacity of adaptation of the healthcare system; the necessity to develop policies to promote SH; the organizational commitment of healthcare workers and their training on sustainability improvement at workplace; the importance to involve all stakeholders interested in the issue; the empowerment of patients to enable them to be responsible of their own health (Fischer, 2015;Ryan-Fogarty et al, 2016;Yih Goh and Marimuthu, 2016;Grose et al 2012;De Francisco Shapovalova et al, 2015).…”