Health and Healthcare Systems

The energy paradox in healthcare: How to balance innovation with sustainability

Caption: The healthcare industry's energy consumption is currently skyrocketing.

The healthcare industry's energy consumption is currently skyrocketing. Image: Unsplash/Marcel Scholte

Bjoern von Siemens
Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Caresyntax
Andrés Herrero-Yraola
Procurator, Caresyntax
This article is part of: World Economic Forum Annual Meeting
  • Rising energy consumption in healthcare means leaders must balance progress with environmental responsibility.
  • Advanced technologies, such as AI-powered operating theatres, can lower energy consumption and reduce waste without compromising patient safety or care standards.
  • Healthcare can lead the way in balancing environmental stewardship with enhanced patient outcomes through reliable data, transparent regulation, and cross-sector collaboration.

Healthcare is at a crossroads. Considerable advancements in medical technology—robotic surgeries, artificial intelligence (AI)- driven diagnostics, and cutting-edge imaging systems—are transforming patient care, saving lives, and improving outcomes in ways we could only dream of a few decades ago.

But there's a paradox we can't ignore. The industry's energy consumption is skyrocketing. Right now, if global healthcare were a nation, it would rank as the fifth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases globally. This surge is a call to action.

Let’s zoom in. Operating rooms are among a hospital’s most energy-intensive spaces but often run on fixed schedules without accounting for real-time variables. Equipment hums even when not used, lights sometimes stay on unnecessarily, and ventilation systems operate at full tilt regardless of occupancy. The result? Wasted energy and inflated operational costs.

The terabytes of data hospitals store – from patient records and diagnostic images to real-time surgical video – generally remain siloed, unanalyzed holistically and ultimately not used to their potential. This isn’t just a missed opportunity to improve patient care; it’s an inefficiency costing us enormously in energy and resources.

Does utilizing AI have a substantial environmental footprint? Training large AI models can consume significant amounts of energy, and if not appropriately managed, deploying AI systems could contribute to the problem we’re trying to solve.

However, efficient, task-specific AI models – often called narrow AI – require less computational power to use AI without energy-intensive processing. Building on these efficiencies, AI algorithms can increasingly distinguish patient risk with remarkable precision.

Evidence from its application in fields like arthroplasty, as highlighted in a systematic review published in Arthroplasty, suggests that such advancements can streamline workflows and expand patient eligibility for ambulatory surgical centres, with potential benefits for operational efficiency and energy optimization.

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Optimizing energy use in healthcare

An internal Caresyntax study from 2022 showed that hospitals utilizing such AI systems reduced their operating room energy consumption by 25%. In our experience, the energy savings generated by these AI efficiencies far outweigh the energy consumed by the AI systems themselves.

The net environmental impact is positive, as it is achieved by optimizing equipment usage, adjusting variables based on real-time needs and streamlining workflows. We’ve seen firsthand how leveraging data can flip the script for individual hospitals and the wider industry.

Hospitals using AI systems reduced overall energy consumption in operating rooms by 25%
Hospitals using AI systems reduced overall energy consumption in operating rooms by 25% Image: Caresyntax internal study 2022

Data doesn’t just optimize our use of energy; it has the power to revolutionize patient care. AI algorithms can analyze unique health profiles to predict patient outcomes, allowing for personalized treatment plans.

Early detection tools, such as those developed at Cedars-Sinai for pancreatic cancer, can identify disease years before traditional methods, allowing less invasive and more successful interventions.

By analyzing surgical data from thousands of procedures, surgical teams can identify best practices, reduce variability, and more effectively train the next generation. This is a positive cycle: better data leads to better care, better outcomes, and a more sustainable use of resources.

However, this progress is only possible with trust. Despite technological leaps, healthcare is well-known for being a slow-moving industry and for good reason – our health is at stake. Patients and providers express concerns about the safety and reliability of AI technologies.

Fostering trust in data use

Leaders must address these fears head-on. This means complying with stringent data privacy regulations such as the US Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and the European Union’s (EU) General Data Protection Regulation, ensuring all data is anonymized and secure, and being transparent about how AI algorithms make decisions.

Regulatory frameworks such as the EU’s AI Act are steps in the right direction. They provide a blueprint for ensuring safe, effective and ethical AI applications. However, beyond compliance, we must foster a culture that values and protects patient data as a sacred trust.

Furthermore, investing in renewable energy sources to power data centres and AI infrastructure can help mitigate the environmental impact. To demonstrate our commitment to environmentally responsible practices, we should all participate in carbon offset programmes and pursue sustainability certifications.

We took the World Economic Forum’s Global Health Equity Zero Gaps Pledge, which aligns with achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and creating a future where climate and human sustainability become realities.

This requires leaders across the global economy to participate in multistakeholder collaborations, share and learn from each other, invest and dedicate resources, commit to sustained action and measure and report impact.

Collaboration is key. The challenges we face are too complex for any single entity to tackle alone. Governments, healthcare providers and technology companies must collaborate to drive meaningful change.

By fostering innovation, prioritizing sustainability and building trust in new technologies, we can redefine what’s possible in patient care.

Bjoern von Siemens, Founder and Chief Financial Officer, Caresyntax

Marrying policy with innovation

Initiatives such as the 2024 UN Climate Conference (COP29) Climate and Health Initiative underscore the global recognition of these issues. Public-private partnerships can accelerate innovation. By working with ministries of health, innovation and AI, we can integrate cutting-edge solutions into national healthcare strategies.

The UK’s National Health Service, aiming for net-zero emissions by 2040, shows how policy and innovation align with ambitions for impactful results.

Hospitals worldwide are taking action. In Egypt, a facility reduced energy consumption by 20% by implementing data-informed measures such as timed heating, ventilation, air conditioning systems and LED lighting.

In India, solar-powered hospitals reduce emissions and provide reliable energy in regions with frequent power outages. However, this must become the norm, not the exception.

Healthcare’s primary mission has always been to save lives. Now, we must broaden that to include maintaining the planet that sustains us all. This isn’t an either-or proposition.

By working together, intelligently leveraging data, responsibly deploying AI technologies, optimizing operations and investing in renewable energy sources, we can enhance patient care while reducing environmental impact. We must break down silos, invest in analytics and use AI to augment human expertise.

As leaders, many of us have a unique opportunity – and responsibility – to drive this transformation. By fostering innovation, prioritizing sustainability and building trust in new technologies, we can redefine what’s possible in patient care. Let’s seize this moment to align our healing mission with the equally vital imperative of preserving our world for future generations.

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