Deepening our understanding of the global sustainability landscape is critical to how the healthcare industry can take informed steps to reduce its environmental impact. To address this knowledge and evidence gap, a new study by Ethicon, a Johnson & Johnson MedTech company, and Cleveland Clinic analyzed healthcare provider (HCP) and hospital decision-maker beliefs and perceptions of sustainability in the operating room (OR) setting across the globe. In recognition of this research, Ethicon is pleased to share that the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) has published the abstract, Health Care Provider and Hospital Decision-Maker Perceptions and Beliefs on Global Environmental Sustainability in the Operating Room on its website. For this research, Ethicon collaborated with co-author Dr. Emre Gorgun, a colorectal surgeon at Cleveland Clinic and a leader in medical sustainability advocacy.
Among the study’s key findings was that HCPs and surgical staff are not only willing to participate in sustainability initiatives, but also have suggestions on how to minimize the environmental impact of the OR. Additional noteworthy findings include:
- While HCPs acknowledge the need for more environmentally sustainable practices in ORs such as recycling, they often encounter barriers.
- The most common barriers cited by HCPs were lack of awareness and education, hospital funding, facilities to carry out recycling processes, and guidance at the hospital level.
- Common sustainability initiatives suggested by HCPs included creating a sustainability steering committee, reducing overall OR waste via recycling and waste segregation, education and training dedicated to environmental sustainability and enforcement of rules and mandates for sustainability initiatives.
The report concluded that, “HCPs are aware of potential opportunities to make ORs more environmentally sustainable and HCPs are willing, but not necessarily able, to participate in these efforts. Existing literature shows that HCPs have suggestions for how to minimize the environmental impact of the OR. Oncologists interested in adopting more sustainable practices can use this research as a guide for key themes and barriers to acknowledge when designing and implementing their own initiatives.”
The analysis incorporated thirty-four studies focused on the perceptions and beliefs of OR HCPs and decision-makers on sustainability initiatives utilizing Embase and PubMed searches to identify relevant studies published between January 2011 and November 2022
To view the published abstract, visit: https://meetings.asco.org/abstracts-presentations/224025. Learn more about J&J’s work to help make healthcare more sustainable: https://www.jnj.com/environmental-sustainability/products-and-solutions
Conflict of Interest and Source of Fund: Dr. Emre Gorgun has received honoraria from Ethicon-Endo Surgery.