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At last week’s International Expo, HSCA announced that it has endorsed the Practice Greenhealth “Standardized Environmental Questions for Medical Products,” which can be used to guide the identification, selection and procurement of environmentally preferable medical products.
The tool is a significant part of Practice Greenhealth’s Greening the Supply Chain™ Initiative, which the organization launched earlier this year to provide a common set of tools for purchasers, suppliers and manufacturers to ensure that environmentally preferable products (EPP) are available, cost competitive, of comparable quality and generate a sector-wide market shift in the direction of sound EPP practices.
In an article titled “Hospitals, health groups use purchasing power to push for greener medical products,” the Washington Post reported on the GPO endorsement, noting, “The move is significant because the groups represent more than 4,000 hospitals and thousands of other health-care organizations, including doctor’s offices, labs and long-term-care facilities. They already leverage the collective buying power of hospitals and other facilities to negotiate discounts on products.”