5 tips: How sustainability succeeds in the medical and dental practice

The healthcare sector is responsible for around 5.2 percent of greenhouse gases in Germany each year. Even though this percentage may seem low at first, it actually corresponds to 54 million tons of CO₂. This makes it clear: The medical sector must become more sustainable. Medical and dental practices are also called upon in this regard and can actively contribute to protecting our climate.

One study showed that nearly 60 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in an average practice are attributable to medications and about 20 percent to purchasing. So how can you reduce your environmental footprint in these areas? Here are some tips on how to make a medical or dental practice sustainable to not only protect the environment, but also have a positive impact on patient health and practice efficiency.

Tip 1: Use medication correctly

Medications are responsible for a large proportion of CO₂ emissions in medical practices. However, drug treatments cannot usually be avoided completely, as patients' well-being depends on the drugs. Nevertheless, it can help greatly to pay particular attention to two things in order to take a more sustainable approach when using medications.

Avoid polymedication

Polymedication refers to the long-term use of various drugs. However, due to the costly production of the drugs, this represents a burden on the environment. By regularly reviewing your patients' medication schedules and sorting out unnecessary drugs, you can not only avoid overmedication but also contribute to environmental protection.

Metered dose inhaler is considered a climate killer

Did you know that prescribing MDIs in your practice has a greater ecological impact than your electricity consumption and heating your rooms? This is due to the propellants used to inhale medications, which are particularly harmful to the environment. Fortunately, metered dose inhalers can often be replaced by more environmentally friendly powder inhalers.

Tip 2: Dispose of your medical waste properly

But how do you sustainably dispose of inhalers, cartridges and capsules that are no longer needed, for example? Proper waste management is key to promoting sustainability in your dental or medical practice. Even if you're already actively conserving resources and avoiding waste as much as possible, it's likely that you won't be able to operate completely along the lines of zero waste in your medical office or dental practice. Due to strict hygiene regulations, it is difficult to impossible to avoid medical waste. For this reason, the reprocessing of single-use products is not recommended.

You can help protect the environment by disposing of your waste properly. Used syringes and other materials potentially contaminated with pathogens must therefore be disposed of properly in compliance with occupational safety and waste legislation. You can find out what the rules are in the "Vollzugshilfe zur Entsorgung von Abfällen aus Einrichtungen des Gesundheitsdienstes" (Implementation Guide for the Disposal of Waste from Health Service Facilities) published by the federal and state governments. You can also read more about handling medical waste at lass-dich-nieder.de.

Tip 3: Reduce consumables

More effective than just correct disposal is waste avoidance itself. Even if you can change little in the treatment, material consumption can be significantly reduced in practice management. This is because you have a greater influence on environmental protection in the organization of your medical or dental practice. Here you can set a decisive course for resource-saving business management through a conscious choice of materials:

• Reduce the use of disposable materials: Review your habits and question, for example, whether multiple paper towels are really necessary.
• Make sure you use environmentally friendly packaging: If you must ship packages, ideally avoid plastic and Styrofoam. There are now many companies that specialize in producing more sustainable alternatives.
• Order in bulk and refill packs: Instead of having the delivery service come several times, order consumables in larger quantities. This saves CO₂ and reduces the consumption of packaging materials.

Tip 4: Take energy-efficient measures

A reduction in energy consumption can be achieved through the use of energy-efficient lighting, programmable thermostats and energy-efficient appliances. Installing solar panels on the roof can also provide a sustainable energy source for the practice.

Also, integrate water-saving measures such as installing water-efficient faucets and toilets. Also raise awareness among employees and patients about water conservation by posting informative notices.You can also encourage the use of public transportation or carpooling by providing information about public transportation on your website.

You can also encourage your employees to carpool to work. This significantly reduces the individual carbon footprint. With this in mind, regularly train your employees in environmentally friendly practices and sustainable behavior. Awareness campaigns can also encourage patients to adopt sustainable behaviors.

Tip 5: Digitize your practice

The consumables of a medical and dental practice also include printer paper. There is great potential for savings here - by digitizing your practice, you can act much more sustainably. Therefore, introduce digital medical history, billing and patient communication in your practice. With Nelly, you can easily handle these otherwise resource-intensive processes digitally with just a few clicks.

1. Your patients fill out all documents and medical history information on their own smartphone and leave their payment information.
2. Nelly stores all information in the practice management system in compliance with legal and data protection requirements.
3. The billing is then automatically initiated by Nelly.

Create a digital workflow in your practice now. We will advise you on your individual case without obligation and free of charge!

Contact Nelly now!

The personal designations used in this article always refer equally to all persons. For the sake of better readability, we have refrained from using double or opposite names.