Jackson Health System in Florida conducted a study on the sustainability impact of transitioning to new Philips patient monitors and found that it led to a projected 47% reduction in carbon emissions.

"This study provided insights and data that will influence both technology development and a deeper understanding of green procurement practices," Robert Metzke, global head of sustainability at Philips, told HCB News. "As a leader in practicing environmental sustainability, Jackson Health System was a natural partner for this, and we are excited to continue working with them to deliver better care for more people."

The study was done by collecting data, conducting onsite interviews, and performing an analysis that quantified the costs and waste figures. It included 2,887 bedside, telemetry, transports, and spot-check monitors and looked at the environmental impact of resource extraction, manufacturing, transportation, use, and end of use.

Three of the health system's hospitals were included in the analysis — Jackson Memorial Hospital, Jackson North Medical Center, and Jackson South Medical Center. The hospitals purchased the patient monitors through Philips' Enterprise Monitoring as a Service business model, which entails either pay-per-use or a combination of upfront costs and a subscription model.

Before upgrading to Philips IntelliVue and EarlyVue monitors, Jackson's previous telemetry patient monitors ran on disposable AA batteries, which needed to be replaced hundreds of times per week. Those monitors also required the clinicians to print paper wave strips multiple times in a day for each patient and then manually scan them into their EMR.

The new Philips monitors are powered by rechargeable batteries and automatically generate a digital wave strip. This will allow the health system to cut down on an estimated 420,000 disposable batteries and 6.5 million sheets of paper, which will result in $1.2 million in savings over a 10-year period.

The switch to these new monitors has enabled Jackson to reduce its carbon footprint by 508 tons of CO2e across all facets of the systems' life cycle. The battery and paper savings reduce CO2e by an additional 177.1 tons.

The health system traded in its old monitors to AllParts Medical — a division of Philips — and has been working with a partner to recycle all of its paper and batteries.

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