Healthcare Wants More Sustainability Strategies, J&J Finds

A growing demand for sustainability strategies exists in the healthcare ecosystem among US health system executives and operating room clinicians, according to a new Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices Companies (JJMDC) survey.

The Voices for Value Insights Series found that nine out of 10 clinicians (92%) and health system executives (88%) agree that sustainability provides long-term cost savings. Additionally, the majority agrees that sustainability provides additional benefits, such as protecting the environment (76%), improving patient care (73%), and increasing the ability to manage risk and regulatory performance (68%). Nearly all (95%) believe that environmental sustainability contributes to the value of care delivered in their health system.

Johnson & Johnson Launches CareAdvantage Sustainability

Because health systems focus on finding new ways to address their impact on the environment and reduce costs, JJMDC launched a new sustainability capacity for its CareAdvantage product. It is designed to help health systems achieve specific environmental, waste management, cost savings and sustainable purchasing goals.

Specifically, the CareAdvantage Sustainability capability enables reprocessing across a broad spectrum of product categories, to include both JJMDC as well as non-JJMDC reprocessed single-use devices. It also includes tools and educational resources to help health systems create sustainability programs with financial and environmental benefits while implementing best practices for measuring and communicating the value of sustainability in healthcare.

The CareAdvantage Sustainability capability helps purchasing and sustainability teams in healthcare delivery systems meet their Environmental Preferable Purchasing (EPP) goals. Specific expertise allows healthcare delivery systems to build a consistent approach to EPP assessments.

Johnson & Johnson has long been a steward of sustainability. The company won a 2017 Environmental Leader award for its Acuvue Oasys 1-Day daily contact lenses that uses 100% sustainable packaging with paperboard purchased from a Fiber Sourcing Certified plant. By evaluating the entire lifecycle of the Acuvue Oasys 1-Day, Johnson & Johnson saw room for improvements in the manufacturing processes, the company reported. Johnson & Johnson upgraded its production technology for Acuvue Oasys with HydraLuxe, creating cycle time, yield, and quality improvements. This resulted in a reduction of 12% energy used to produce each lens compared to the legacy production technology.