Regarding ESG implementation, Hospitals are facing increasing pressure to improve their environmental, social and governance performance. In the past, these organizations have been largely reactive in their ESG investments, but there is a growing trend of hospitals that are adopting a more proactive and strategic stance.
Brazilian hospitals are leading the charge by investing in ESG initiatives with impressive results.
In this article, we will explore the practical lessons from 3 leading healthcare institutions in the country that show positive results in implementing ESG.
How are Brazilian hospitals leading the way in ESG investments?
In recent years, Brazilian hospitals have made great strides in their investments in environmental, social, and governance initiatives, resulting in increased ESG implementation.
While many factors have contributed to this trend, perhaps the most important has been the realization that these investments can lead to tangible benefits for both patients and outcomes.
Albert Einstein Israeli Hospital
An institution at the forefront in relation to environmental, social and governance initiatives
, Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, considered one of the best hospitals in Brazil in 2015, launched an important initiative to improve its performance in implementing ESG, and the results were impressive.
Regarding governance, Albert Einstein Hospital has established a sustainability committee that meets monthly to discuss and monitor the hospital’s ESG initiatives.
In addition, the institution annually submits a detailed sustainability report, helping to keep the hospital accountable to its patients, employees, and the community.
In terms of results, the implementation of the ESG led to a significant reduction in the hospital infection rate, which dropped from 2.4% to 0.8%. The average patient hospital stay also decreased significantly, from 8.4 days to 6.8 days.
These results clearly show that ESG investments can have a positive impact on the hospital’s bottom line.
University of São Paulo’s Hospital das Clínicas (HC-USP)
Another example that portrays the benefits and practical lessons applied to hospitals that invest in ESG is the University of São Paulo’s Hospital das Clínicas (HC-USP).
HC-USP, a reference university hospital in Brazil, follows the corporate governance model, adopting mechanisms that aim to expand
transparency and the participation of the hospital community in the management of the hospital.
.
In addition, it invests in a compliance program to prevent and detect risks of ethical and legal violations.
As far as sustainability is concerned, the hospital aims to decrease its environmental impact, being the first institution in the world to receive the ISO 14001 certification for all its units.
São José Health Care House (CSSJ)
A third example of the results applied to the ESG implementation, is the Casa de Saúde São José (CSSJ), located in the city of Rio de Janeiro.
The hospital has been working to improve its ESG performance for many years, but has only recently begun to formalize its efforts.
CSSJ has implemented an independent board of directorsand ethics and compliance committees. The hospital also invests in the qualification of its professionals, offering various courses and training.
In 2015, the hospital released its first sustainability report, which outlined a series of ambitious goals, including a 50 percent reduction in water consumption and a 30 percent reduction in energy consumption by 2020.
CSSJ has already made significant progress against these targets, with a 20% reduction in water consumption and a 10% reduction in energy consumption since 2015.
What can we learn from the successful ESG implementation of these hospitals?
There are some important lessons that can be learned from the successes of leading Brazilian hospitals:
1. ESG investments can lead to tangible benefits for both patients and the bottom line
Leading Brazilian hospitals have shown that investments in ESG-related actions can have a direct positive impact on both the quality of patient care and financial results.
For example, the Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein has managed to save about R$1 million per year with its ESG implementation initiatives in the environmental, social, and governance fields.
2. It is possible to significantly reduce the environmental impact of hospitals using ESG practices
With ESG initiatives it is possible to significantly reduce the environmental impact of hospitals, even in a short period of time.
For example, CSSJ has managed to reduce its water consumption by 20% and its energy consumption by 10% since 2015.
3. ESG is a comprehensive and formal sustainability strategy and the key to achieving success
ESG has proven to be a comprehensive and formal sustainability strategy, key to achieving success.
HC-USP launched its first sustainability report in 2016 based on best governance practices, which established a series of goals to reduce the hospital’s environmental impact.
4. Ambitious goals are needed to drive significant change
In fact, ambitious goals must be set to drive significant change.
For example, CSSJ’s governance goal has succeeded in implementing an independent board of directors, ethics and compliance committees.
With this, the hospital has shown that it is possible to reverse the trend of a corporate culture unfocused on ethical issues.
5. Leadership is crucial to success
The hospitals with the best results are those that have strong top management commitment to ESG goals.
HC-USP, for example, has appointed a sustainability committee to ensure that the hospital’s goals are met.
6. There must be a commitment to transparency
Transparency is another common feature of top-performing hospitals.
CSSJ publishes its environmental, social, and governance reports annually, which allows stakeholders to track the hospital’s progress.
7. It is important to involve all stakeholders to achieve success
It is critical to involve all stakeholders to achieve success. HC-USP has created an interdisciplinary working group to develop its ESG strategies.
This group is composed of representatives from all areas of the hospital, including doctors, nurses, administrators, and housekeeping staff.
8. Results-focused reporting is essential to track progress and identify areas for improvement
Results-focused reporting is essential for tracking progress and identifying areas for improvement.
The Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein publishes an annual sustainability report, which makes it possible to track the institution’s progress.
9. Communication and education are essential for success
Communication and education are essential to the success of environmental, social, and governance initiatives.
The Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein promotes these areas through a series of initiatives, such as lectures and seminars, and distributes informative materials to employees.
The HC-USP has an environmental education program called “Ecoar” whose goal is to sensitize employees, doctors, patients, and visitors about environmental issues, among other ESG-related aspects.
10. You need to have a long-term commitment to achieve success
The Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein aims to reduce its water consumption by 50% by 2025.
Meanwhile, CSSJ plans to decrease its energy consumption by 20 percent by 2023.
These long-term goals are essential to ensure that hospitals continue to make progress in their sustainability initiatives.
Success stories that are expanding to other Brazilian hospitals
The National Association of Private Hospitals (Anahp) recently published the document “
ESG in Anahp hospitals: results and best practices
“.
The purpose of the publication was to present recent practical results of ESG implementation, demonstrating the commitment of member healthcare institutions to a more sustainable future.
The document has case studies of projects described by 42 institutions, from different regions of the country, showing how major transformations can be conducted in various areas.
The document highlights actions related to health promotion, clean energy use, water and sanitation care, and governance.
As in the case of the Hospital Vila Verde Saúde Mental, where Governance and sustainability go hand in hand, to promote actions for the care and well-being of employees, as well as reduce waste.
The healthcare unit has implemented the “Corporate Governance – Sustainable Growth” project, with actions that are based on the pillars of the ESG implementation and established challenges to be overcome in a two-year horizon, contributing to the strategy for the next five years.
The initiative is being led by a working group composed of representatives from the hospital’s various areas, which is now taking care of the project, process, and quality portfolios in an integrated manner.
Besides the governance area, the controller sector was also created, responsible for providing support in the elaboration and consolidation of the financial and strategic planning, indicators, and internal control auditing.
Among other benefits achieved.
From these cases it is possible to see that, despite the contextual differences between hospitals, some lessons are common to all those that have achieved success
Showing the importance of adopting comprehensive and formal environmental, social, and governance strategies with ambitious goals, committed leadership, transparency, stakeholder involvement, focus on results, and a long-term commitment.
While these lessons are important, they are only the first step in achieving success.
Hospitals that wish to invest in ESG need to be willing to learn from existing success stories and adapt them to their own realities.
This is the only way to create innovative solutions that meet the specific needs of each hospital, thus ensuring the success of the investment in sustainability.
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Tool portfolio that ensures data protection and extends ESG practices
With data protection products from the CipherTrust Data Security Platform, your healthcare organization can:
Strengthen security and compliance
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Optimizes team and resource efficiency
CipherTrust Data Security Platform provides extensive support for data security use cases in the industry.
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In addition, it features the industry’s largest ecosystem of data security partnerships.
With a focus on ease of use, APIs for automation, and responsive management, the CipherTrust Data Security Platform solution ensures that your teams can quickly deploy, secure, and monitor the protection of your business.
In addition, professional services and partners are available for design, implementation, and training assistance to ensure fast and reliable implementations with minimal staff time.
Reduces total cost of ownership
The data protection portfolio of the CipherTrust Data Security Platform provides a comprehensive range of data security products and solutions.
These solutions can be easily scaled and adapted to new use cases. They have a proven track record in protecting both new and traditional technologies.
With CipherTrust Data Security Platform, healthcare institutions can prepare their investments for the future while reducing operational costs and capital expenditures.
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