Quantifying the Pro-Environmental Impacts of Telehealth Tobacco Treatment
Introduction: Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions trap in heat responsible for global warming. Stanford Tobacco Treatment Service uses telehealth for patient care. Methods: To quantify the environmental benefits of the clinic, data were abstracted from the electronic health record between March 17, 2020,...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Mary Ann Liebert
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Telemedicine Reports |
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| Online Access: | https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/tmr.2025.0019 |
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| author | Sohayla Eldeeb Amy Chieng Cindy Tran Xu Judith J. Prochaska |
| author_facet | Sohayla Eldeeb Amy Chieng Cindy Tran Xu Judith J. Prochaska |
| author_sort | Sohayla Eldeeb |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction: Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions trap in heat responsible for global warming. Stanford Tobacco Treatment Service uses telehealth for patient care. Methods: To quantify the environmental benefits of the clinic, data were abstracted from the electronic health record between March 17, 2020, and September 20, 2022. Round trip distances from address zip code to clinic were calculated to quantify GHG. Reductions in cigarettes from baseline to 24-month follow up were analyzed. Results: The sample of 556 patients averaged 2 sessions and 156.8 miles per round trip, saving 148.8 kg of GHG emissions per patient. Ninety-four patients had tobacco usage data at both timepoints; 83 (88%) used cigarettes and had an average decrease of 5.5 cigarettes per day. Conclusions: Applying findings to the 1,820 patients treated, the clinic has averted 271 metric tons of GHG travel emissions via telehealth; equivalent to 693,101 miles driven. Investing in telehealth tobacco cessation can prevent illnesses, health care expenditures, and environmental hazards. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-4ea40b80e0634c6b8ec4e4c512c8f92a |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2692-4366 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Mary Ann Liebert |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Telemedicine Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-4ea40b80e0634c6b8ec4e4c512c8f92a2025-08-20T03:29:23ZengMary Ann LiebertTelemedicine Reports2692-43662025-01-016117117810.1089/tmr.2025.0019Quantifying the Pro-Environmental Impacts of Telehealth Tobacco TreatmentSohayla Eldeeb0Amy Chieng1Cindy Tran Xu2Judith J. Prochaska3Department of Medicine, Stanford Prevention Research Center, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, USA.Department of Medicine, Stanford Prevention Research Center, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, USA.Health Education, Engagement and Promotion, Stanford Health Care, Menlo Park, California, USA.Department of Medicine, Stanford Prevention Research Center, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, USA.Introduction: Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions trap in heat responsible for global warming. Stanford Tobacco Treatment Service uses telehealth for patient care. Methods: To quantify the environmental benefits of the clinic, data were abstracted from the electronic health record between March 17, 2020, and September 20, 2022. Round trip distances from address zip code to clinic were calculated to quantify GHG. Reductions in cigarettes from baseline to 24-month follow up were analyzed. Results: The sample of 556 patients averaged 2 sessions and 156.8 miles per round trip, saving 148.8 kg of GHG emissions per patient. Ninety-four patients had tobacco usage data at both timepoints; 83 (88%) used cigarettes and had an average decrease of 5.5 cigarettes per day. Conclusions: Applying findings to the 1,820 patients treated, the clinic has averted 271 metric tons of GHG travel emissions via telehealth; equivalent to 693,101 miles driven. Investing in telehealth tobacco cessation can prevent illnesses, health care expenditures, and environmental hazards.https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/tmr.2025.0019telehealthgreenhouse gas emissionpatient travel reductionenvironmental benefitstobacco cessation treatment |
| spellingShingle | Sohayla Eldeeb Amy Chieng Cindy Tran Xu Judith J. Prochaska Quantifying the Pro-Environmental Impacts of Telehealth Tobacco Treatment Telemedicine Reports telehealth greenhouse gas emission patient travel reduction environmental benefits tobacco cessation treatment |
| title | Quantifying the Pro-Environmental Impacts of Telehealth Tobacco Treatment |
| title_full | Quantifying the Pro-Environmental Impacts of Telehealth Tobacco Treatment |
| title_fullStr | Quantifying the Pro-Environmental Impacts of Telehealth Tobacco Treatment |
| title_full_unstemmed | Quantifying the Pro-Environmental Impacts of Telehealth Tobacco Treatment |
| title_short | Quantifying the Pro-Environmental Impacts of Telehealth Tobacco Treatment |
| title_sort | quantifying the pro environmental impacts of telehealth tobacco treatment |
| topic | telehealth greenhouse gas emission patient travel reduction environmental benefits tobacco cessation treatment |
| url | https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/tmr.2025.0019 |
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