Healthcare Finance News
July 25, 2012 | Kelsey Brimmer, Associate Editor
WASHINGTON – During a White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) conversation on Tuesday, leaders in healthcare and policy discussed the Healthier Hospitals Initiative (HHI) to reduce the environmental footprint of hospitals, lower costs and improve overall patient health by including sustainability efforts and initiatives into their business models.
The Healthier Hospitals Initiative (HHI) is a national campaign to implement a new approach to improving environmental health and sustainability in the healthcare sector. Eleven of the largest U.S. health systems, comprising approximately 500 hospitals with more than $20 billion in purchasing power, worked with Health Care Without Harm (HCWH), the Center for Health Design and Practice Greenhealth to create HHI as a guide for hospitals to improve sustainability.
Among those at Tuesday’s forum, “Greening America’s Hospitals: A White House Discussion on the Healthcare Industry,” were representatives from nationwide healthcare group purchasing organizations (GPOs). They discussed the critical role of the healthcare supply chain in introducing these environmentally sustainable designs…