ReviewHealth services insights2024
Assessing the Carbon Footprint of Telemedicine: A Systematic Review.
Review in Health services insights, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Teledentistry for Improving Access To, and Quality of Oral Health Care: Overview of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Pooled it
- Dietitian reflections on video consultations: a descriptive qualitative study.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Twin Transformation in Cardiothoracic Surgery: The Convergence of Digital Innovation and Sustainability.Journal of cardiovascular development and disease · 2026Review
- Digital art as a novel medium for health communication: enabling interactive interventions and reconstructing health experiences in public health.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Review
- Impact of telemedicine on reducing travel-related COBMJ open · 2025Article
- Use and Perception of Video Consultations Among Swedish Dietitians Before and After COVID-19 Onset.Journal of human nutrition and dietetics : the official journal of the British Dietetic Association · 2025Article
- Environmental Impact of Physical Visits and Telemedicine in Nursing Care at Home: Comparative Life Cycle Assessment.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Sustainable practice in gastroenterology: travel-related COJournal of the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology · 2025Article
- Greening healthcare and slashing carbon emissions through telemedicine: a cross-sectional study from over 50 thousand remote consults at a leading tertiary hospital.Frontiers in digital health · 2025Article
- Remote monitoring and teleconsultations can reduce greenhouse gas emissions while maintaining quality of care in cystic fibrosis.Frontiers in digital health · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Healthcare is responsible for 4% to 10% of carbon emissions worldwide, of which 22% is related to transport. Telemedicine emerged as a potential solution to reduce the footprint, for example, by reducing travel. However, a need to understand which variables to include in carbon footprint estimations in telemedicine limits our understanding of the beneficial impact telemedicine might have on our environment. This paper aims to systematically assess the reported carbon footprint and include variables assessed by the literature, comparing telemedicine with usual care. Methods: The systematic review followed the PRISMA guidelines in PubMed, Medline, Embase and Scopus. A quality assessment was performed using a transparency checklist for carbon footprint calculators. Carbon emissions were evaluated based on four categories, including patient travel, and streamlined life cycle assessment (LCA) for assessing included variables relevant to telemedicine. Results: We included 33 articles from 1117 records for analysis. The average transparency score was 38% (range 18%-68%). The median roundtrip travel distance for each patient was 131 km (interquartile range [IQR]: 60.8-351), or 25.6 kgCO Conclusions: Telemedicine aids in reducing emissions, with travel distance being the most significant contributor. Additionally, we recommend accounting for the LCA since it highlights important nuances. This review furthers the debate on assessing carbon footprint savings due to telemedicine.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.