Cost Improvement and environmental protection related to outpatient department surgery vs. operating room surgery

Introduction: The Canadian healthcare sector is responsible for 4.5% of the national total greenhouse gas emissions (3). Operating rooms (ORs) generate about 30% of a hospitals’ solid waste and are three to six-times more energy intensive than the rest of the hospital (4, 5). One method of reducing the carbon footprint of ORs is to move simple operative procedures (SOPs) from ORs to outpatient procedure rooms.

Hypothesis: We hypothesize that SOPs performed in the OPD will be more cost effective and environmentally more sustainable than SOPs performed in the OR.

Methods: We took an observational approach to data collection by observing several OPD and OR SOPs from the time patients registered at the hospital to when they were discharged. We collected data from managers of OPD Surgery, OR, PACU/Recovery, Day Surgery, housekeeping, central processing, and facilities/utilities. We then determined the cost difference and the kilograms of carbon dioxide emitted (kgCO2e).  

Results and Conclusion: Data collection is not complete. Currently, OR procedures are 2.5x more costly, produce 18x more surgical waste, and they have about a 9x greater carbon footprint than OPD procedures.