{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,6]],"date-time":"2026-02-06T04:51:26Z","timestamp":1770353486970,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,30]],"date-time":"2025-05-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1748563200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Digit. Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title><jats:p>Minimizing healthcare systems\u2019 resource footprints is crucial. To expand this focus, our objective was to assess the carbon emission reductions achievable through the introduction of telemedicine services at a prominent Brazilian tertiary hospital.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>This cross-section study included all patients who had remotely held appointments in a Brazilian tertiary hospital. The primary outcome was carbon emissions. The estimated carbon emissions were first calculated based on the distance between the hospital and the patient's home address. After, the calculated distance was multiplied by the amount of carbon estimated according to the type of transport used.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>The study included 28,244 patients undergoing 52,878 remote appointments between March and December 2020, residing in 417 municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul and 80 towns in other Brazilian states. The total sum of distances and carbon gas reduction saved with the implementation of remote consultations amounted to 805,252.00\u2005km and 939,641.94\u2005kg of CO<jats:sub>2<\/jats:sub> emissions, respectively.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title><jats:p>Telemedicine initiatives implemented in tertiary hospitals for less than a year result in a large amount of greenhouse gas emissions saved. Telemedicine emerges as a promising strategy with significant potential to mitigate the impact on planetary health.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fdgth.2025.1497770","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,30]],"date-time":"2025-05-30T05:45:19Z","timestamp":1748583919000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Greening healthcare and slashing carbon emissions through telemedicine: a cross-sectional study from over 50 thousand remote consults at a leading tertiary hospital"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"7","author":[{"given":"Roberto Nunes","family":"Umpierre","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Rita","family":"Mattiello","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Carlos Andr\u00e9 Aita","family":"Schmitz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Enrique","family":"Falceto de Barros","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Rodolfo Souza","family":"da Silva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Marcelo Rodrigues","family":"Gon\u00e7alves","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Jos\u00e9 Roberto","family":"Goldim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"101070","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jth.2021.101070","article-title":"Fourteen pathways between urban transportation and health: a conceptual model and literature review","volume":"21","author":"Glazener","year":"2021","journal-title":"J Transp Health"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e234","DOI":"10.1016\/S2542-5196(24)00025-1","article-title":"Cities, planetary boundaries, and degrowth","volume":"8","author":"Kronenberg","year":"2024","journal-title":"Lancet Planet Health"},{"key":"B3","article-title":"68% of the world population projected to live in urban areas by 2050, says UN. 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