Carbon savings potential of virtual care in obstructive sleep apnea and otitis media with effusion

Area of Science:

• Environmental Health
• Healthcare Management
• Pediatric Surgery

Background:

• Healthcare systems contribute to carbon emissions through patient travel and facility operations.
• Pediatric surgical care pathways for conditions like obstructive sleep apnea and otitis media with effusion often involve multiple in-person visits.
• The integration of virtual care presents an opportunity to reduce the environmental impact of healthcare delivery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify the potential carbon savings associated with incorporating virtual care into surgical pathways for pediatric obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and otitis media with effusion (OME).

Main Methods:

• A modeling cohort study design was employed using the British Columbia healthcare system data.
• Care pathways for pediatric OSA and OME were developed, and virtual visits were modeled to replace in-person appointments.
• Emissions from transport and virtual visits were estimated, with population-weighted means calculated.

Main Results:

• Replacing 1, 2, or 3 in-person visits with virtual ones in the OSA pathway could yield emissions reductions of 19.9%, 39.9%, and 59.8%, respectively.
• For the OME pathway, integrating 1, 2, or 3 virtual visits resulted in potential savings of 16.6%, 33.2%, and 49.7%.
• Up to 3 virtual visits in the OSA pathway could save over 2156 kgCO2e per patient.

Conclusions:

• Virtual care integration can substantially reduce theoretical carbon emissions in pediatric surgical care.
• Conducting up to 50% of clinical encounters virtually for pediatric OSA and OME patients offers significant environmental benefits.
• Individual patient emission savings can exceed 2150 kgCO2e through optimized virtual care implementation.