This educational program explores the intersection of infection prevention and sustainability in healthcare, focusing on strategies to reduce environmental impact while maintaining patient safety, through a series of three webinars. In the first, participants will learn foundational concepts in sustainability metrics, data reporting, and evaluating the environmental impact of healthcare products and processes, equipping them with practical tools for driving sustainable practices in their organizations. The second session focuses specifically on sustainability in the operating room, including a multidisciplinary panel discussion on reusable versus single-use medical devices and the opportunities and challenges of "Greening the OR". In the third session, participants will gain insight on evidence-based approaches to a common personal protection, gowns, and feasibility of replacing disposable gowns with reusable alternatives, showcasing real-world experiences in waste reduction and system resilience.

This session will serve as an introduction to metrics and data in the sustainability sphere, providing a review of various data streams and reporting in sustainability.  This session will introduce basic concepts of being able to understand environmental impacts of products and practices, as well as potential ways to compare environmental impact among various healthcare products and processes.

 

In this session, a multidisciplinary panel will discuss the balance between infection prevention and sustainability in an operating room environment, with a focus on reusable vs single use medical devices. The panel will consist of an infection preventionist / hospital epidemiologist, sustainability expert with experience in “Greening the OR”, Sterile processing department, and an expert in environmental health and safety. 

 

This session will review evidence for replacing disposable with reusable gowns from a sustainability perspective and describe the experience of a healthcare system in making the switch to reduce waste and promote system resilience.