Sustainability in doctor's practice

For around 90 percent of all physicians, sustainability has a high or very high priority, as surveys show. The topic includes not only ecological aspects, but also medical and corporate responsibility. A foray through the multi-layered topic.

When it comes to sustainability, physicians think first and foremost of environmental and climate protection. A survey conducted by Deutsche Apotheker- und Ärztebank revealed that practice owners primarily consider waste management (47 percent), energy consumption (31 percent) and the use of digital rather than analog solutions (29 percent). Their commitment goes even further in perspective: nine out of ten of those surveyed agree with the statement that measures with a positive effect on the environment and climate simultaneously improved health and enhanced quality of life. And more than three out of four of those surveyed also see themselves as having a responsibility to encourage patients to live healthy and sustainable lives.

Sustainability - a term with multiple meanings

The study shows: Sustainability has long since become an important topic for physicians, but mostly in an ecological context. According to the Duden dictionary, sustainability is not only a "principle according to which no more may be consumed than can be regrown, regenerated, provided again in the future". The general meaning includes a "long-lasting effect". And this is precisely the issue that is important to the medical profession in every contact with patients or employees. Sustainability can become the basis of a strategy to run practices successfully.