Kaiser Permanente Launches Sustainability Scorecard for Medical Products

SDCExec   
May 6th, 2010

Oakland, CA — Managed healthcare provider Kaiser Permanente announced this week that it will require suppliers to provide environmental data for $1 billion worth of medical equipment and products used in its hospitals, medical offices and other facilities.

Companies like Wal-Mart have rolled out similar initiatives for their supply chains, but Kaiser Permanente’s Sustainability Scorecard is the first of its kind in healthcare. It is intended to allow Kaiser Permanente to evaluate the sustainability of each medical item it purchases while also encouraging suppliers across the industry to provide greener products for the healthcare sector.

“Addressing concerns about products and materials commonly used throughout healthcare will help create a healthier environment for Kaiser Permanente’s patients, employees and physicians,” the company said in a statement announcing the new policy.

“Kaiser Permanente recognizes we can improve health today and for the future by taking a close look at the products we purchase,” said Dean Edwards, vice president and chief procurement officer with the company. “With Kaiser Permanente’s size and influence, the work we’re doing is continuing to move the industry.”

Kaiser Permanente spends more than $1 billion each year on medical products. By September this year, when Kaiser Permanente’s key supply chain partner, Broadlane, adopts the tool, the scorecard could influence $10 billion in medical purchasing.

The focus on greener products is just one aspect of Kaiser Permanente’s work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce the use of harmful chemicals and promote sustainable food choices. “The organization is dedicated to environmental sustainability because it has direct, positive effects on individual and community health,” the company said in its statement.

Kaiser Permanente’s current environmental policies already provide environmental guidelines for products ranging from greener cleaning chemicals to IV tubing free of potentially harmful chemicals. The Sustainability Scorecard goes further by requiring suppliers to provide information on their company’s environmental commitment, use of potentially harmful chemicals in their products and information about product and packaging recycling.

“Kaiser Permanente is continually working to find environmentally friendly products, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and inform public policy to protect the health and safety of our workforce and members alike,” said Kathy Gerwig, Kaiser Permanente’s vice president for workplace safety and environmental stewardship officer. “With our Sustainability Scorecard, we are strengthening the link between sustainability and health.”

Kaiser Permanente points to a long history of environmental stewardship at the company. It says it builds greener facilities, strives to purchases nontoxic materials and supports sustainable agriculture. For example, the organization has worked with suppliers to virtually eliminate the use of products and equipment that contain mercury, which is a neurotoxin.

Last month, the organization announced it had agreed to deploy 15 megawatts of solar power in a deal that will put solar panels at 15 Kaiser Permanente facilities across the state by the summer of 2011.

More information on Kaiser Permanente’s environmental efforts is available at www.kp.org/green.

This story originally appeared at Supply and Demand Chain Executive

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