Throughout the past few years, many studies and analyses have concluded that healthcare sustainability investments are not only good for a hospital or health system’s mission — they are also good for the bottom line.
Hospitals can find easy “win-win” situations without much capital investment. One such situation Mr. Orsini mentioned is medical device reprocessing — in which an outside vendor disassembles, cleans, remanufactures, tests and sterilizes single-use devices like ultrasonic scalpels, and hospitals buy back the reprocessed device at a cheaper rate. It reduces landfill waste and the “high costs” associated with red bag waste, he says.
Those bottom-line savings could help a hospital or health system’s financial report card from the perspective of a credit rating agency or bank, especially if the organization is also taking on larger capital projects.
“There’s an increase in capital expense and depreciation, but you’re also getting improvements in operating income immediately,” Mr. Orsini says. “From that perspective, it’s effective to external constituents.”