The Environmental Sustainability Assessment of an Orthopedics Emergency Hospital Supported by a New Innovative Framework

Abstract

Due to their high consumption of resources and enormous amount of generated waste, healthcare systems are not considered to be sustainable. Given the constant changes in internal needs, improvement of this state cannot be achieved only through policies, strategies, and interventions administered from the outside. Thus, it is necessary to design tools that, through their constant application, facilitate the sustainable development of health institutions. The objective of this research is to develop and validate in practice an innovative framework for assessing the sustainability of healthcare facilities that is compatible with hospital accreditation legislation and other community frameworks. The research is limited to the study of environmental sustainability and its results are validated in a healthcare facility with an orthopedic profile. The research method consists of defining the domains of the new innovative framework, collecting the latest medical practices related to environmental sustainability, designing indicators related to environmental responsibility and a matrix of indicators, followed by its validation in practice at an emergency hospital. The new innovative framework is organized in three areas, including environmental, economic, and social sustainability, to which is added organizational capacity along with management and provision of sustainable healthcare services. It contains 57 indicators, of which 8 are dedicated to the environmental area. The indicators are described in detail together with evaluation grids structured by the coupled degrees of importance and achievement. The practical implementation of the innovative framework at the County Emergency Clinical Hospital of Targu Mures highlights its added value by promoting sustainability strategies together with continuous quantification of the organization’s sustainability level.

Identifying key risk factors for acute compartment syndrome in tibial diaphysis fracture patients

“…In line with evolving research, future studies should consider the prognostic value of inflammatory biomarkers from initial laboratory tests in ACS patients. Inspired by innovative approaches in orthopedic research, such as those suggested by Moldovan et al 21 , identifying new biomarkers could significantly refine ACS risk assessment and management. This promising research area may lead to predictive models that enhance patient care through personalized treatment strategies.…”

What impact has the Centre of Research Excellence in Digestive Health made in the field of gastrointestinal health in Australia and internationally? Study protocol for impact evaluation using the FAIT framework

“…Although, there are other frameworks from various medical fields 26 to assess evaluation of research outcomes, this evaluation applied the FAIT to the CRE-DH with the explicit aim of optimising research impact and providing direction for future digestive health planning and prioritisation.…”

An Orthopedic Healthcare Facility Governance Assessed with a New Indicator System

“…The innovative aspect proposed in this research deals with social aspects in accordance with the seven requirements of the social responsibility standard ISO 26000 [16]. Social aspects were adapted to the basic processes of the hospital regarding the provision of sustainable healthcare services, as follows, healthcare facility governance, human rights [17], labor practices [18], environment [19], fair healthcare practices [20], patient matters [21], and community involvement and development (Figure 2). Corresponding to the content of medical activities, in our model, we ordered the 4 stages of the quality cycle in accordance with the requirements of the ISO9001 quality assurance standard [22].…”