Perspectives on Implementing Environmentally Sustainable Practices in Cataract Surgeries: Interviews of Administrative and Frontline Healthcare Workers

TL;DR

This study explores how healthcare workers view implementing eco-friendly practices in cataract surgeries, highlighting challenges and opportunities for change.

Contribution

The paper introduces insights from healthcare workers on barriers and strategies for sustainability in cataract surgery.

Findings

Infection prevention concerns are a major barrier to implementing sustainable practices.

Bottom-up initiatives led by frontline staff are seen as more likely to succeed.

There is a disconnect between policy and practice in healthcare sustainability efforts.

Abstract

Healthcare is responsible for 8.5% of greenhouse gas emission in the United States. Physicians are becoming increasingly concerned about the climate crisis, particularly in the field of ophthalmology where there is a growing body of literature related to sustainability. Although emissions of cataracts surgery, one of the most performed surgical procedures in the world, have been quantified, modifications to practice have yet to be made. This study aims to uplift the perspectives of a diverse set of healthcare workers on implementing environmentally sustainable practices in the cataract surgery setting.

15 semi-structured interviews were conducted with professionals working in various direct patient care or administrative roles at a large health center to gain insight on implementing a variety of sustainability initiatives. We focused on initiatives related to supply reduction, reusable supplies, multi-dosing pharmaceuticals, and health system process and policy shifts.

Participants most frequently identified infection prevention and control concerns as a primary barrier to implementation. Additionally, the infection prevention and control department was most often cited as a key stakeholder in implementation. However, participants from this department did not share these same concerns. Additionally, participants most often cited that these initiatives would be successfully implemented from the bottom up, meaning driven by those providing direct patient care.

Themes generated from the collection of responses underscore a broader discussion of disconnect between policy and practice in healthcare as a barrier to implementation of these initiatives and an opportunity in harnessing bottom up change to implement sustainable practices in a growing healthcare system.