The Collective Healthcare Action to Reduce MedTech Emissions (CHARME) collaborative launched with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions that arise from the multi-billion dollar U.S. medical device and equipment supply chain. The MedTech (medical device, equipment, service, and distribution) supply chain accounts for 7% of U.S. health care greenhouse gas emissions. The Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council is leading this effort in partnership with Kaiser Permanente and Vizient.
CHARME fills a critical gap in existing decarbonization initiatives and has the potential to improve emission reductions in activities such as manufacturing and transportation practices across the MedTech supply chain. A total of 13 organizations comprising of national and global health systems, medical device and equipment suppliers, distributors, group purchasing organizations, and other key industry stakeholders have expressed their intent to participate, including Advocate Health; Becton, Dickinson and Company; Cardinal Health; Cencora; Health Care Without Harm; Northwell Health; and Stryker, and more organizations are joining daily.
“We are thrilled to be collaborating with some of the most significant participants in the health care supply chain as we work to identify, test, refine and promote specific best practices to move markets toward reduced supply chain emissions,” said Kris Spriano, Interim CEO of the Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council.
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“As the largest nonprofit, integrated health care provider in the U.S., with a mission of improving the health of the 68 million people who live in the communities we serve, Kaiser Permanente is committed to reducing our direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions,” said Steve Chyung, senior vice president and chief supply chain & procurement executive at Kaiser Permanente. “Reducing the climate impact of the products we procure has a positive impact on both environmental and human health, which ultimately improves chronic conditions and creates more healthy years for our members and the communities we serve.”
The CHARME initiative will implement key findings from the white paper Catalyzing Collective Action to Decarbonize Healthcare Roadmap for Health Systems and MedTech Suppliers, which was published in 2023 by Kaiser Permanente, Health Care Without Harm, and Accenture, with input from over 30 organizations. The participating health systems included hundreds of hospitals from across the country, and the suppliers included MedTech companies representing over $1 trillion in annual revenue.
SOURCE: PRNewswire