Impact of a Telemedicine Program on the Reduction in the Emission of Atmospheric Pollutants and Journeys by Road
by
Josep Vidal-Alaball 1,2,*
, 
Jordi Franch-Parella 3,*, Francesc Lopez Seguí 4,5, Francesc Garcia Cuyàs 6 and Jacobo Mendioroz Peña 1,2
Josep Vidal-Alaball 1,2,*, Jordi Franch-Parella 3,*, Francesc Lopez Seguí 4,5, Francesc Garcia Cuyàs 6 and Jacobo Mendioroz Peña 1,2
1
Health Promotion in Rural Areas Research Group, Institut Català de la Salut, 08272 Sant Fruitós de Bages, Spain
2
Unitat de Suport a la Recerca de la Catalunya Central, Fundació Institut Universitari per a la Recerca a l’Atenció Primària de Salut Jordi Gol i Gurina, 08007 Barcelona, Spain
3
Faculty of Social Sciences, Universitat de Vic-Universitat Central de Catalunya, 08242 Manresa, Spain
4
TIC Salut Social-Ministry of Health, 08005 Barcelona, Spain
5
CRES&CEXS-Pompeu Fabra University, 08005 Barcelona, Spain
6
Sant Joan de Déu Hospital, Catalan Ministry of Health, 08950 Barcelona, Spain
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(22), 4366; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16224366
Received: 3 October 2019 / Revised: 27 October 2019 / Accepted: 6 November 2019 / Published: 8 November 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Media and Public Health: Opportunities and Challenges)
This retrospective study evaluates the effect of a telemedicine program developed in the central Catalan region in lowering the environmental footprint by reducing the emission of atmospheric pollutants, thanks to a reduction in the number of hospital visits involving journeys by road. Between January 2018 and June 2019, a total of 12,322 referrals were made to telemedicine services in the primary care centers, avoiding a total of 9034 face-to-face visits. In total, the distance saved was 192,682 km, with a total travel time saving of 3779 h and a total fuel reduction of 11,754 L with an associated cost of €15,664. This represents an average reduction of 3248.3 g of carbon dioxide, 4.05 g of carbon monoxide, 4.86 g of nitric oxide and 3.2 g of sulphur dioxide. This study confirms that telemedicine reduces the environmental impact of atmospheric pollutants emitted by vehicles by reducing the number of journeys made for face-to-face visits, and thus contributing to environmental sustainability.
View Full-Text
Keywords:
telemedicine; carbon dioxide; air pollutants; vehicle emissions; primary care
▼
Show Figures
Figure 1
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Vidal-Alaball, J.; Franch-Parella, J.; Lopez Seguí, F.; Garcia Cuyàs, F.; Mendioroz Peña, J. Impact of a Telemedicine Program on the Reduction in the Emission of Atmospheric Pollutants and Journeys by Road. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 4366.
Show more citation formats
Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.
