Telehealth services provider answers the call to eliminate carbon footprint by 2050
As part of its growing corporate commitment to social and environmental responsibility, Equum Medical has taken the health sector pledge, which has garnered the support of leading health systems, hospitals, industry associations and nonprofit groups. Participants promise in writing to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030 and achieve net zero emissions by 2050, while producing detailed plans to prepare their facilities and communities for both chronic and catastrophic climate impacts.
“We are all responsible for making our country’s resources available for future generations,” said Corey Scurlock, MD, MBA, Equum’s CEO and founder. “While our nation’s healthcare system assures us of a level of well-being, it does so by being energy-intensive, responsible for nearly 10% of total carbon emissions. My company’s participation in this pledge encourages the adoption of technology, especially telehealth, to make care more equitable, accessible and efficient.”
Telehealth may play a vital role in reducing medicine’s carbon footprint: A large-scale study in 2021 found that telehealth utilization in care delivery can reduce carbon emissions, primarily through the elimination of patient travel. Telehealth also enables the decentralization of care delivery, which can benefit equity and access for patients who otherwise could not receive on-site care due to transportation and personal challenges, as well as provider capacity that is not geographically distributed evenly, causing clinical supply and demand imbalances.
For over 10 years, Equum Medical has provided telehealth-enabled acute care through a team approach to address the challenges hospitals and health systems face when trying to fill gaps in coverage. Equum’s flexible, customized approach helps clients improve the lives of on-site clinicians, extends patient care in specialty areas and offers program leadership. Equum helps hospitals and health systems enhance care and serve more patients, while delivering a positive clinical, operational and financial impact.
For more information, visit equummedical.com.
