A recent study published in the American Journal of Managed Care highlights the environmental benefits of telehealth, revealing that it reduces carbon emissions by decreasing road traffic. An analysis showed that 1.5 million telemedicine visits resulted in significant monthly reductions of CO2 emissions, equivalent to 130,000 gas-powered cars. This research suggests that substituting in-person medical visits with telehealth is a viable strategy for lowering the healthcare sector's carbon footprint, which currently contributes nearly 9% of U.S. emissions. The study emphasizes the importance of adopting environmentally friendly medical practices.
Our findings suggest that the environmental impact of medical care delivery can be reduced when lower-carbon options, such as telemedicine, are substituted for other services that produce more emissions.
Researchers quantified nearly 1.5 million telemedicine visits in urban and rural areas... and estimated that anywhere between 741,000 to 1.35 million of those visits were substitutes for in-person visits.
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