The day before this year’s World Hospital Congress, the IHF’s Geneva Sustainability Centre, in collaboration with Deloitte, has launched an innovative new platform to digitally empower hospitals and healthcare leaders to drive sustainable, low-carbon, equitable, and resilient healthcare.
The research and development for the Sustainability Accelerator Tool (SAT) began in 2022, soon after the IHF established the Geneva Sustainability Centre to equip hospital leaders with the information, tools, and skills to drive the sector’s transition to sustainability at leadership, management, and institutional levels. Following a period of international consultation, a set of KPIs were defined, forming the underlying framework for SAT. Targeting three key domains (Environment; Health, equity, and wellbeing; and Leadership and governance), SAT has been thoroughly piloted with hospitals from across the IHF’s membership worldwide.
Deborah J. Bowen, FACHE CAE, President of the IHF and President of the American College of Healthcare Executives, stated the case for hospitals and healthcare delivery organizations to start the journey to sustainability:
The cloud-based tool enables executives to report a hospital’s performance against core indicators and compare it to other healthcare organizations worldwide. SAT provides hospital and healthcare executives with a comprehensive solution to assess organizational sustainability maturity and track progress against key performance indicators. The dashboard and benchmarking are specific to the healthcare sector, providing a global reference alongside an institution’s individual progress.
Sara Siegel, Global Head of Healthcare at Deloitte, reflected on the capacity of digital technologies to deliver high impact outcomes:
The American Hospital Association (AHA) has already signed an agreement with the Geneva Sustainability Centre to promote the SAT to its network of members across the USA. As the national body representing nearly 5,000 hospitals, health systems and health care organizations, the AHA has identified sustainability as a key area of focus for the field. The tracking and benchmarking functionality of SAT complements the resources and programmes it offers to members in support of their sustainability efforts.
On sharing news of the agreement with AHA members, Michelle Hood, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the AHA, said:
Ronald Lavater, FACHE, Chief Executive Officer of the IHF added:
SAT is the latest addition to the Geneva Sustainability Centre’s toolbox of resources developed specifically for executives in the healthcare sector. In July 2023, an online learning tool – the Carbon Emissions Learning Lab (CELL) simulator – was launched for executives to understand the impacts and organizational benefits of sustainability-oriented decision-making. A learning programme, as well as free guides and case studies are already available as the Geneva Sustainability Centre delivers on its mission to equip hospital leaders with the knowledge, skills, and tools to transition to net zero healthcare delivery.
Source: IHF
