During the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth has been shown to be a safe and effective way to deliver care. There is now also data showing that it s good for the health of the planet.
One large health system linked its 2020 growth in telehealth virtual visits to a reduction in the emissions of greenhouse gasses (GHG) equal to the emissions created annually by 1,200 homes.
Researchers with Northwest Permanente (NWP), a member of the AMA Health System Program, calculated telehealth s impact on reducing patients vehicle traffic and the corresponding reduction in GHG emissions to 10.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide or equivalent GHG emissions (CO2-eq) in 2020 from 19.6 tonnes CO2-eq in 2019.