Radiology practice emits as much greenhouse gases as 1,100 cars
A hospital-based radiology practice emits as much greenhouse gases as nearly 1,100 petroleum-powered cars in a single year, according to new research.
Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s imaging equipment accounted for over half of the department’s emissions, with MRI making up 48%. The findings are from a 10-year study of the Nashville, Tennessee-based institution’s energy consumption, published in RSNA’s Radiology.
Experts believe the analysis offers key clues as providers seek to curb their carbon footprint and control costs.
“Our study is a crucial stride in understanding the overall environmental impact of radiology,” Diana Carver, PhD, associate professor of radiology and principal investigator of the study, said in a Dec. 1 announcement from Philips, which also participated in the investigation. “Identifying a range of contributors to radiology’s carbon footprint means we can develop focused strategies to reduce emissions without compromising patient care.”
Previous such studies have only examined energy use for imaging equipment, monitors and other processes. However, they have not looked at the entire suite of services in a radiology department, nor their impact across the entire lifecycle. The investigation also covered material extraction, manufacturing, transportation and service life for products used in the VUMC radiology department. It did not cover nuclear medicine, interventional radiology nor breast imaging.
Clinical use of imaging equipment across all modalities accounted for 54% of departmental greenhouse gasses, Carver and colleagues found. After MRI, CT came in at second (24%), while other notable contributors included X-ray and fluoroscopy (12%) and ultrasound (4%). Those involved also were surprised to find that workstation PACS and data storage accounted for 12% of the tally, and linen production and laundering another 10%.
“What stands out to me is the detail to which we can explore, and change, energy usage patterns,” John R. Scheel, MD, PhD, professor of radiology and vice chair of global health in the department, said in the same announcement. “For example, a key finding is most of our carbon emissions with CT occurred when we were not imaging patients—during downtime. Now we can work with colleagues to reduce our per-patient waste by imaging more patients in a scheduling block.”
You can read more about the results in the Radiological Society of North America’s flagship journal here.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.