Environmental Sustainability 101: The Health Care Supply Chain Imperative

Member Price: $79.00 | Non-Member Price: $149.00

Continuing Education Credits (CECs): 1.5

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An introduction to environmental sustainability walking learners through strategizing on simple projects while outlining commitment to sustainability, and moving on to larger, multi-layered strategies highlighting long-term investment in global health.

Environmental sustainability is an increasingly important aspect of the supply chain professional role. Today, health care accounts for nearly 20% of the US Gross Domestic Product. Billions of dollars of goods are manufactured, delivered, used, and burned or buried in the earth, polluting soil, water and air yearly. We all see the volume of materials and waste that moves through our facilities. Patients see it too and there is a concern.

This course will dive deeply into the leading strategic practices recommended to begin or continue sustainability efforts within your own supply chain aligning with your organization’s readiness and goals. Learners will examine their own organization’s sustainability level, or maturity, and identify issues and opportunities for program development as well as how the supply chain can collaborate with current efforts, leading to holistic change throughout the health care field.

We will look at the key players, leadership, and resources needed and acquire discussion points for conversations with suppliers. Users will review product attributes that should be questioned along with negotiation and contracting strategies to help understand your suppliers’ commitments to improving their efforts. 

Learn how your efforts lead to positive outcomes and improved impacts on the surrounding community and how measurement is necessary to show successes, leading to continued support and holistic change throughout the health care field.

As we have a new understanding of the imperative for proactive improvements in supply chain sustainability efforts, we will integrate environmental sustainability impacts with cost, quality and outcomes (CQO) leading practices when sourcing a particular product or service. This ongoing scrutiny will allow supply chain to significantly contribute to the reduction of carbon emissions, leading to the improved health of patients, staff and the community at large.

Learning Objectives:

• Discuss health care's impact on climate change using the terminology learned in this course.
• Describe Scope 3 carbon emissions and product attributes and variables when considering a new product or service.
• Identify opportunities for supply chain collaboration within an organization’s current sustainability efforts.
• Use the strategies learned to develop and implement your own sustainability strategy. 

Special thanks to Laura Faye Vernon, Walt Vernon, and Healthcare without Harm for their valuable input.