Sustainability

MTRC shares the most relevant and impactful publications in the field of market access and HEOR for medical technologies in Europe through its Sustainability Publications Digest. In a recent publication, Cimprich et al. discussed strategies of regulatory actors, particularly market authorization agencies, health technology assessment agencies, and health care procurement agencies, for integrating environmental sustainability requirements into the regulation of medicines and medical devices. Their analysis, contextualized within diverse healthcare settings, reveals significant untapped possibilities for strengthening regulatory frameworks to mitigate the ecological footprint of health technologies.

MTRC shares the most relevant and impactful publications in the field of market access and HEOR for medical technologies in Europe through its Sustainability Publications Digest. In a recent publication, McCance et al. conducted a comparative carbon footprint analysis of disposable versus reusable surgical instruments in cataract surgery in the UK. Their findings highlighted the substantial environmental impact of single-use items, which had a 27-fold higher carbon footprint than reusable alternatives, with net carbon savings achieved after 19 or more reuses. These findings emphasize the necessity of integrating sustainability strategies into surgical workflows to mitigate healthcare's environmental footprint.

In February 2025, the Board of Danish Regions meeting was held. The key themes discussed concerned prioritizing public wellbeing and environmental sustainability, expanding cancer treatment capacity and funding, and the status of the Common Regional Procurement Strategy 2020-2025 (including “green” procurement).

MTRC shares the most relevant and impactful publications in the field of market access and HEOR for medical technologies in Europe through its Sustainability Publications Digest. In a recent publication, Haluza et al. conducted an exploratory survey at the General Hospital in Vienna, Austria, to assess anesthesia team members’ perspectives on precycling and recycling of anesthetic gases. The study revealed a generally positive attitude toward adopting sustainable practices, suggesting a strong potential for reducing volatile anesthetic use through active staff engagement.

MTRC shares the most relevant and impactful publications in the field of market access and HEOR for medical technologies in Europe through its Sustainability Publications Digest. In a recent publication, Morris et al. conducted a scoping review of data on waste and greenhouse gas emissions in ophthalmic surgery. Results of 10 studies revealed that most emissions are linked to the procurement of surgical materials, followed by travel emissions and building energy. The authors also proposed a standardized waste-lifecycle framework to organize future research to help generate robust evidence for implementing impactful waste reduction strategies in ophthalmology.

In January 2025, the Spanish Minister of Health participated in a meeting to establish the “Green Anesthesia” working group. The group’s goal is to further advance the sustainability of the healthcare system and develop a set of best practices and solutions to achieve “better anesthesia for patients and for the planet”.

On January 1, 2025, an amended Executive Order on Medical Devices entered into force, which makes it possible to send single-use medical devices for reprocessing and further reuse. At the same time, it ensures that the reprocessed devices are safe and effective to use on an equal footing with the original CE-marked devices.

MTRC shares the most relevant and impactful publications in the field of sustainability for medical technologies in Europe through its Sustainability Publications Digest. In the recent publication, “Environmental impact of current endoscopic technology in urological procedures: a systematic review on reusable vs. disposable scopes,” Peyrottes et al. presented a systematic review to evaluate and synthesize the existing literature on environmental aspects related to urological endoscopy procedures.

MTRC shares the most relevant and impactful publications in the field of sustainability for medical technologies in Europe through its Sustainability Publications Digest. In the recent publication, “Carbon footprinting and sustainability impact assessment in urological surgical practice - A systematic review,” Wani et al. presented a systematic review to determine the carbon footprint (CFP) of urological surgical practice and identify opportunities for improving the environmental impact of urology surgical practice. Five articles were included in the review. Studies concerned the use of reusable cystoscopes, ureteroscopes and robotics-assisted surgery.

MTRC shares the most relevant and impactful publications in the field of sustainability for medical technologies in Europe through its Sustainability Publications Digest. In the recent publication, “The environmental impact of energy consumption and carbon emissions in radiology departments: a systematic review,” Roletto et al. presented a systematic review to identify all strategies to reduce energy use and carbon emissions in radiology. In total, 16 articles were included. Main topics were energy consumption (10/16, 62.5%), life-cycle assessment (4/16, 25.0%), and carbon footprint (2/16, 12.5%).