Telemedicine Cuts Down On Greenhouse Gases
By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
TUESDAY, April 29, 2025 -- Telemedicine isn’t only more convenient for patients, but could be helping save the planet, a new study says.
Telemedicine use in 2023 reduced monthly carbon dioxide emissions by the equivalent of more than 130,000 exhaust-spewing gas-powered vehicles, researchers reported recently in the American Journal of Managed Care.
This suggests that telemedicine could have a modest but noticeable impact on air quality and climate change, by decreasing the number of vehicles on the road for medical appointments, researchers said.
“As Congress debates whether to extend or modify pandemic-era telehealth flexibilities, our results provide important evidence for policymakers to consider, namely that telemedicine has the potential to reduce the carbon footprint of U.S. health care delivery,” co-senior researcher Dr. John Mafi, an associate professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, said in a news release.
The U.S. health system contributes about 9% of the nation's greenhouse gas emissions, while transportation comprises about 29% of emissions, researchers said in background notes.
For this study, researchers analyzed data on health care utilization patterns for nearly 1.5 million telemedicine visits between April and June 2023. These included about 66,000 visits in rural areas.
The team estimated that between 741,000 and more than 1.3 million of these telemedicine appointments were substitutes for in-person visits.
If so, telemedicine would have reduced carbon dioxide emissions by between 21 million and 47.6 million kilograms each month in the U.S., researchers said.
That translates to the emissions produced by 61,000 to 130,000 gas-powered vehicles, or recycling 1.8 million to 4 million trash bags, researchers said.
"The health care sector contributes significantly to the global carbon footprint,” co-senior researcher Dr. Mark Fendrick said in a news release.
“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,” said Fendrick, a professor of medicine and director of Center for Value-Based Insurance Design at the University of Michigan.
Sources
- UCLA, news release, April 22, 2025
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted April 2025
Read this next
Shedding Pounds in Middle Age Could Add Years to Your Life, Study Finds
WEDNESDAY, May 28, 2025 — Losing just 6.5% of body weight in midlife may lower later risk of disease and premature death, new research shows. Researchers found that people...
Miley Cyrus Reveals Rare Condition That Shapes Her Signature Voice
WEDNESDAY, May 28, 2025 — Singer and actress Miley Cyrus says a rare voice disorder called Reinke’s edema is behind her famous raspy voice — and also makes...
AI Helps ID Candidates For Targeted Breast Cancer Treatment
WEDNESDAY, May 28, 2025 -- Thanks to artificial intelligence (AI), more women might soon benefit from targeted breast cancer treatment, a new study says. AI can help identify...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.