Other Initiatives
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Identifying and supporting interventions in primary care that contribute to climate mitigation and climate resilience. Click here to learn more
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Reducing resource use and waste in the OR and reducing the use of environmentally harmful anesthetic gases. Click here to learn more.
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Identifying opportunities to increase the visibility and impact of sustainability efforts. Click here to learn more.
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Ensuring commitment to advancing equitable outcomes both in the areas of climate mitigation and resilience. Click here to learn more.
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Developing city-healthcare partnerships to explore opportunities for the healthcare sector to support city-led climate action. Click here to learn more.
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Identifying opportunities to leverage healthcare purchasing for sustainability. Click here to learn more
Working Group
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Working Group Leads
Peter Goldthorpe, VP Transformation, SickKids
Oliver Tsai, Director of IT, Sunnybrook Hospital
Working Group Members
Payal Aggarwal, Family Physician and Innovation Fellow, Institute for Health System Solutions and Virtual Care (WIHV), Women’s College Hospital
Bobby Gheorghiu, Manager of Trending and Performance, Canada Health Infoway
Kyle Robinson, Director, Facilities, Operations and Sustainability, SickKids
Secretariat
Geoff Anderson, Fellow, Centre for Sustainable Health Systems; Professor, Institute of Health Policy, Management & Evaluation UofT; Research Lead and NPA, BeACCoN
Nicole Simms, Managing Director, Centre for Sustainable Health Systems (through summer 2021; now with CASCADES)
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Working Group Lead
Peter Goldthorpe, VP Transformation, SickKids
Working Group Members
Payal Aggarwal, Family Physician and Innovation Fellow, Institute for Health System Solutions and Virtual Care (WIHV), Women’s College Hospital
Bobby Gheorghiu, Manager of Trending and Performance, Canada Health Infoway
Kyle Robinson, Director, Facilities, Operations and Sustainability, SickKids
Secretariat
Geoff Anderson, Fellow, Centre for Sustainable Health Systems; Professor, Institute of Health Policy, Management & Evaluation UofT; Research Lead and NPA, BeACCoN
Nicole Simms, Executive Lead & Regional Coordinator (Central Canada), CASCADES
About the Community of Practice Sustainable Virtual Care Initiative
Determining how to assess and harness the environmental benefits of virtual care, learning, and work.
In-person care delivery systems require that patients, staff, and caregivers travel to meet at care facilities. That travel, combined with the building, heating and lighting of those facilities, comprises a significant portion of health system GHG emissions. Moving from in-person to virtual care delivery when appropriate is therefore a promising way to reduce the environmental impacts of care delivery – in the short term, via a reduction in travel-related emissions, and in the longer term, via a decreased need to build and maintain clinical and office space.
These benefits may come sooner than anticipated. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the uptake of virtual approaches to care delivery across the country. However, the technologies used to facilitate virtual care have variable environmental impacts in their production, operation, and disposal. Transitioning to virtual care therefore involves making important choices about investment in information and communications technology (ICT). Any investment in virtual care delivery should include carefully examing its financial cost, impact on quality of care, and environmental impacts – the triple bottom line.
Image from the CASCADES Virtual Care Infographic.
The Virtual Care Working Group has worked to leverage the expertise and data generated by many Toronto Academic Health Science Network hospitals given the expansion of virtual care during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim was to develop a convenient tool to support consistent estimation of carbon savings from the travel averted by the use of virtual care. The Working Group also aimed to contribute to the conversation about the wider environmental impacts of virtual care from information and communication infrastructure and the energy needs associated with the growing reliance on digital health data. As well, the Working Group has highlighted the importance of insuring that virtual care is used appropriately, and in accordance with patient wishes and clinical judgment.
In collaboration with CASCADES, this working group has developed the Virtual Care Carbon Accounting Playbook. This playbook features the CASCADES Virtual Care Carbon Accounting Tool (VCCAT), which has been designed to help health care sites better understand the carbon emissions and costs associated with patient travel.
Sustainable Virtual Care: Tools Showcase
On June 27, 2023, the Sustainable Virtual Care Working Group hosted an online event to showcase and discuss virtual care carbon accounting tools, including their use across the Toronto Academic Health Science Network (TAHSN).
If you’d like to share any ideas, questions, or resources, please email cshs@utoronto.ca.