VISIT THE EVENT WEBSITE FOR MORE INFORMATION.

SESSION DESCRIPTIONWhile physicians take an oath to “do no harm,” the enormous environmental impact of health care operations in the United States is contributing to the burden of disease and harming the health of patients and communities. The health care sector produces an estimated 10 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, and hospitals consume more than 10 percent of the total energy use of all commercial buildings in the United States. Learn about the environmental impact of the health care sector and opportunities to promote environmentally responsible, climate-smart health care.

Leading hospitals have been working to reduce their environmental impact, and physicians can be powerful champions to support the transition to environmentally sustainable health care. As an article in the AMA Journal of Ethics points out, “physicians and health organizations have obligations to use their influence, expertise, and resources to protect health, which includes promoting sustainability.”

LEARNING OBJECTIVESGain strategies to promote environmentally responsible climate-smart health care.Learn how life cycle analysis can help advance clinically sustainable health care.Understand how the U.S. health care sector’s environmental impact contributes to the harming of patient and public health.Discover how the sector is taking action under leadership of Health Care without Harm and Practice Greenhealth.