IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/corsem/v26y2019i4p781-790.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Prevention is better than cure—Environmental management measures in hospitals

Author

Listed:
  • Christin Seifert
  • Edeltraud Guenther

Abstract

Hospitals are major actors in the health care sector, and their duty is the safe treatment of patients. Thus, hospitals make an important contribution to the achievement of sustainability goals. However, they also have negative environmental impacts. Hospitals have difficulties responding to increasing environmental demands. The aim of this paper is to systematically delineate measures for hospitals' environmental management. We research EMAS‐registered hospitals as pioneers in environmental management that have credibility through external validation. Based on 31 publicly available environmental statements, we analyze measures from the environmental programs. These measures are classified into general management approaches and measures that are related to input (energy, materials, and water) and output (waste, wastewater, and emissions). The paper makes a practical contribution by summarizing environmental measures to improve environmental performance. This provides a brief overview that can serve as a benchmark and best‐practice sharing for other hospitals and organizations interested in environmental protection.

Suggested Citation

  • Christin Seifert & Edeltraud Guenther, 2019. "Prevention is better than cure—Environmental management measures in hospitals," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(4), pages 781-790, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:corsem:v:26:y:2019:i:4:p:781-790
    DOI: 10.1002/csr.1720
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1720
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/csr.1720?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Silvia Ayuso, 2006. "Adoption of voluntary environmental tools for sustainable tourism: analysing the experience of Spanish hotels," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 13(4), pages 207-220, September.
    2. Christin Seifert, 2018. "The Barriers for Voluntary Environmental Management Systems—The Case of EMAS in Hospitals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-19, May.
    3. de Belvis, Antonio Giulio & Ferrè, Francesca & Specchia, Maria Lucia & Valerio, Luca & Fattore, Giovanni & Ricciardi, Walter, 2012. "The financial crisis in Italy: Implications for the healthcare sector," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 106(1), pages 10-16.
    4. Justo Garcia-Sanz-Calcedo & Fernando Lopez-Rodriguez & Talal Yusaf & Awf Al-Kassir, 2017. "Analysis of the Average Annual Consumption of Water in the Hospitals of Extremadura (Spain)," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-10, April.
    5. D. Perez‐Sanchez & J. R. Barton & D. Bower, 2003. "Implementing environmental management in SMEs," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 10(2), pages 67-77, June.
    6. Alfonso González González & Justo García-Sanz-Calcedo & David Rodríguez Salgado, 2018. "Quantitative Determination of Potable Cold Water Consumption in German Hospitals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-13, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Nouf Sahal Alharbi & Jawaher Haji Alhaji & Malak Yahia Qattan, 2021. "Toward Sustainable Environmental Management of Healthcare Waste: A Holistic Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-15, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Stefan Gold & Stefan Seuring & Philip Beske, 2010. "Sustainable supply chain management and inter‐organizational resources: a literature review," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(4), pages 230-245, July.
    2. Christin Seifert & Edeltraud Guenther, 2020. "Who cares?—Stakeholder relevance for voluntary environmental management in hospitals," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(4), pages 1786-1799, July.
    3. Jaryn Bradford & Evan D. G. Fraser, 2008. "Local authorities, climate change and small and medium enterprises: identifying effective policy instruments to reduce energy use and carbon emissions," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(3), pages 156-172, May.
    4. Tavares, Lara Patrício & Zantomio, Francesca, 2017. "Inequity in healthcare use among older people after 2008: The case of southern European countries," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(10), pages 1063-1071.
    5. Borzaga, Carlo & Fazzi, Luca, 2014. "Civil society, third sector, and healthcare: The case of social cooperatives in Italy," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 234-241.
    6. Martina Battisti & Martin Perry, 2011. "Walking the talk? Environmental responsibility from the perspective of small‐business owners," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 18(3), pages 172-185, May.
    7. Joaquin Sanchez-Planelles & Marival Segarra-Oña & Angel Peiro-Signes, 2020. "Building a Theoretical Framework for Corporate Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-21, December.
    8. Marc Dressler, 2023. "Generic strategic profiling of entrepreneurial SMEs – environmentalism as hygiene factor," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 121-150, March.
    9. Huili Hao & Jeffery M Hill, 2023. "Tourism Businesses’ Perceptions on Sustainable Practices and Barriers in Coastal North Carolina, USA," Journal of Sustainable Development, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 15(4), pages 1-15, May.
    10. Signorelli, C. & Odone, A. & Oradini-Alacreu, A. & Pelissero, G., 2020. "Universal Health Coverage in Italy: lights and shades of the Italian National Health Service which celebrated its 40th anniversary," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(1), pages 69-74.
    11. Johan Graafland & Hugo Smid, 2016. "Environmental Impacts of SMEs and the Effects of Formal Management Tools: Evidence from EU's Largest Survey," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(5), pages 297-307, September.
    12. Guccio, C. & Pignatora, G. & Vidoli, F., 2023. "It never rains but it pours: Austerity and mortality rate in peripheral areas," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 23/02, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    13. Cinzia Di Novi & Anna Marenzi & Dino Rizzi, 2018. "Do healthcare tax credits help poor-health individuals on low incomes?," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 19(2), pages 293-307, March.
    14. Khawla Loubani & Rachel Kizony & Uzi Milman & Naomi Schreuer, 2021. "Hybrid Tele and In-Clinic Occupation Based Intervention to Improve Women’s Daily Participation after Breast Cancer: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-15, June.
    15. Frans Melissen & Andrew Ngawenja Mzembe & Uwafiokun Idemudia & Yvonne Novakovic, 2018. "Institutional Antecedents of the Corporate Social Responsibility Narrative in the Developing World Context: Implications for Sustainable Development," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(6), pages 657-676, September.
    16. Codrin Dan Nicolae Ilea & Lucia Georgeta Daina & Simona Bungau & Delia Mirela Tit & Diana Uivarosan & Lavinia Moleriu & Ion Petre & Constantin Bungau & Izabella Petre, 2020. "Sustainable Management, Instable Legislation Regarding Wages, and Employee Satisfaction/Motivation in Two Romanian Hospitals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-17, January.
    17. Andrea Revell & David Stokes & Hsin Chen, 2010. "Small businesses and the environment: turning over a new leaf?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(5), pages 273-288, July.
    18. Di Novi, C. & Piacenza, M. & Robone, S. & Turati, G., 2015. "How does fiscal decentralization affect within-regional disparities in well-being? Evidence from health inequalities in Italy," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 15/23, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    19. Julia Dobreva, 2015. "Innovations: a Key Driver for Sustainable Development in Bulgaria," Proceedings of International Academic Conferences 1003079, International Institute of Social and Economic Sciences.
    20. Krisztina Szegedi & Tamás Németh & Dorina Körtvési, 2023. "Employer Branding in the Fashion Industry: CSR Actions by Fashion SMEs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-18, January.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:corsem:v:26:y:2019:i:4:p:781-790. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1002/(ISSN)1535-3966 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.