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Q&A with Jeffrey Brown, executive director, Practice Greenhealth

by Sean Ruck, Contributing Editor | January 12, 2015
From the January 2015 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine


HCBN: How do you help educate health care professionals about products?
JB:
As we work with suppliers and buyers of environmentally preferable products or services, we strive to develop a way of thinking about the human and environmental health risks that practices, products or services might have. We leverage the knowledge and experience of one member to help another, focusing on what attributes make a product healthy so the suppliers and customers can make informed business plans and decisions.

We also recognize that healthcare systems and their suppliers come to us to help them make strides in their sustainability performance. Nobody’s perfect, and we like to say we meet our members where they are on their sustainable journey — we help them assess their sustainability position, set priorities, and promote a path of continuing improvement. We believe working with, and talking with, market participants is a more effective approach of driving change than talking at them.

HCBN: Can you talk about any big news over the past year for the organization?
JB:
One of our member health systems became energy independent. We also issued our 2013 Sustainability Benchmark Report. Meanwhile, HHI has had a lot of uptake, with more than a thousand hospitals enrolled. This is helping more hospitals get started on their sustainability journey.

HCBN: What’s the top priority for hospitals looking to be more "green?"
JB:
Instilling a commitment to environmental management and sustainability as part of the organization’s culture – making it a natural part of their strategic thinking, their decision-making, and their actions. This is what will lead to healthier patients, staff, communities, and to healthier financials.

We believe that working across the industry is going to drive change faster than everyone doing it on their own. Practice Greenhealth / HHI is the organization making that happen.

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