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Positive environmental impact of remote teleconsultation in urology during the COVID-19 pandemic in a highly populated area
INTRODUCTION: Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are a serious environmental issue. The healthcare sector is an important emitter of GHGs. Our aim was to assess the environmental cost of teleconsultations in urology compared to face-to-face consultations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Prospective study of all...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Elsevier Masson SAS.
2021
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8387203/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34454847 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.purol.2021.08.036 |
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author | Filfilan, A. Anract, J. Chartier-Kastler, E. Parra, J. Vaessen, C. de La Taille, A. Roupret, M. Pinar, U. |
author_facet | Filfilan, A. Anract, J. Chartier-Kastler, E. Parra, J. Vaessen, C. de La Taille, A. Roupret, M. Pinar, U. |
author_sort | Filfilan, A. |
collection | PubMed |
description | INTRODUCTION: Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are a serious environmental issue. The healthcare sector is an important emitter of GHGs. Our aim was to assess the environmental cost of teleconsultations in urology compared to face-to-face consultations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Prospective study of all patients who had a remote teleconsultation over a 2-week period during COVID-19 pandemic. Main outcome was the reduction in CO(2)e emissions related to teleconsultation compared to face-to-face consultation and was calculated as: total teleconsultation CO(2)e emissions–total face-to-face consultation CO(2)e emissions. Secondary outcome measures were the reduction in travel distance and travel time related to teleconsultation. RESULTS: Eighty patients were included. Face-to-face consultations would have resulted in 6699 km (4162 miles) of travel (83.7 km (52 miles) per patient). Cars were the usual means of transport. CO(2)e avoided due to lack of travel was calculated at 1.1 tonnes. Teleconsultation was responsible for 1.1 kg CO(2)e while face-to-face consultation emitted 0.5 kg of CO(2)e. Overall, the total reduction in GHGs with teleconsultation was 1141 kg CO(2)e, representing a 99% decrease in emissions. Total savings on transport were 974 € and savings on travel time were 112 h (1.4 h/patient). CONCLUSIONS: Teleconsultation reduces the environmental impact of face-to-face consultations. The use of teleconsultation in our urology departments resulted in the avoidance of more than 6000 km of travel, equivalent to a reduction of 1.1 tonnes of CO(2)e. Teleconsultation should be considered for specific indications as the healthcare system attempts to become greener. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-8387203 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2021 |
publisher | Elsevier Masson SAS. |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-83872032021-08-26 Positive environmental impact of remote teleconsultation in urology during the COVID-19 pandemic in a highly populated area Filfilan, A. Anract, J. Chartier-Kastler, E. Parra, J. Vaessen, C. de La Taille, A. Roupret, M. Pinar, U. Prog Urol Original Article INTRODUCTION: Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are a serious environmental issue. The healthcare sector is an important emitter of GHGs. Our aim was to assess the environmental cost of teleconsultations in urology compared to face-to-face consultations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Prospective study of all patients who had a remote teleconsultation over a 2-week period during COVID-19 pandemic. Main outcome was the reduction in CO(2)e emissions related to teleconsultation compared to face-to-face consultation and was calculated as: total teleconsultation CO(2)e emissions–total face-to-face consultation CO(2)e emissions. Secondary outcome measures were the reduction in travel distance and travel time related to teleconsultation. RESULTS: Eighty patients were included. Face-to-face consultations would have resulted in 6699 km (4162 miles) of travel (83.7 km (52 miles) per patient). Cars were the usual means of transport. CO(2)e avoided due to lack of travel was calculated at 1.1 tonnes. Teleconsultation was responsible for 1.1 kg CO(2)e while face-to-face consultation emitted 0.5 kg of CO(2)e. Overall, the total reduction in GHGs with teleconsultation was 1141 kg CO(2)e, representing a 99% decrease in emissions. Total savings on transport were 974 € and savings on travel time were 112 h (1.4 h/patient). CONCLUSIONS: Teleconsultation reduces the environmental impact of face-to-face consultations. The use of teleconsultation in our urology departments resulted in the avoidance of more than 6000 km of travel, equivalent to a reduction of 1.1 tonnes of CO(2)e. Teleconsultation should be considered for specific indications as the healthcare system attempts to become greener. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3. Elsevier Masson SAS. 2021-12 2021-08-26 /pmc/articles/PMC8387203/ /pubmed/34454847 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.purol.2021.08.036 Text en © 2021 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved. Since January 2020 Elsevier has created a COVID-19 resource centre with free information in English and Mandarin on the novel coronavirus COVID-19. The COVID-19 resource centre is hosted on Elsevier Connect, the company's public news and information website. Elsevier hereby grants permission to make all its COVID-19-related research that is available on the COVID-19 resource centre - including this research content - immediately available in PubMed Central and other publicly funded repositories, such as the WHO COVID database with rights for unrestricted research re-use and analyses in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for free by Elsevier for as long as the COVID-19 resource centre remains active. |
spellingShingle | Original Article Filfilan, A. Anract, J. Chartier-Kastler, E. Parra, J. Vaessen, C. de La Taille, A. Roupret, M. Pinar, U. Positive environmental impact of remote teleconsultation in urology during the COVID-19 pandemic in a highly populated area |
title | Positive environmental impact of remote teleconsultation in urology during the COVID-19 pandemic in a highly populated area |
title_full | Positive environmental impact of remote teleconsultation in urology during the COVID-19 pandemic in a highly populated area |
title_fullStr | Positive environmental impact of remote teleconsultation in urology during the COVID-19 pandemic in a highly populated area |
title_full_unstemmed | Positive environmental impact of remote teleconsultation in urology during the COVID-19 pandemic in a highly populated area |
title_short | Positive environmental impact of remote teleconsultation in urology during the COVID-19 pandemic in a highly populated area |
title_sort | positive environmental impact of remote teleconsultation in urology during the covid-19 pandemic in a highly populated area |
topic | Original Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8387203/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34454847 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.purol.2021.08.036 |
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