Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-29-2025
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Healthcare is responsible for 8.5% of greenhouse gas emission in the United States. Physicians are becoming increasingly concerned about the climate crisis, particularly in the field of ophthalmology where there is a growing body of literature related to sustainability. Although emissions of cataracts surgery, one of the most performed surgical procedures in the world, have been quantified, modifications to practice have yet to be made. This study aims to uplift the perspectives of a diverse set of healthcare workers on implementing environmentally sustainable practices in the cataract surgery setting.
METHODS: 16 semi-structured interviews were conducted with professionals working in various direct patient care or administrative roles at a large health center to gain insight on implementing a variety of sustainability initiatives. We focused on initiatives related to supply reduction, reusable supplies, multi-dosing pharmaceuticals, and health system process and policy shifts.
RESULTS: Participants most frequently identified infection prevention and control (IPC) concerns as a primary barrier to implementation. Additionally, the IPC department was most often cited as a key stakeholder in implementation. However, participants from this department did not share these same concerns. Additionally, participants most often cited that these initiatives would be successfully implemented by those providing direct patient care.
CONCLUSIONS: Themes generated from the collection of responses underscore a broader discussion of disconnect between policy and practice in healthcare as a barrier to implementation of these initiatives and an opportunity in harnessing clinically led change to implement sustainable practices in a growing healthcare system.
Recommended Citation
Parra, Daniel; Sherry, Brooke; Pak, Emma; Taylor, Lauren; Rogers, Erin S.; Hochman, Sarah E.; Cadena, Maria De Los Angeles Ramos; Schuman, Joel S.; Prescott, Christina R.; and Thiel, Cassandra L., "Perspectives on Implementing Environmentally Sustainable Practices in Cataract Surgeries: Interviews of Administrative and Frontline Healthcare Workers" (2025). Wills Eye Hospital Papers. Paper 285.
https://jdc.jefferson.edu/willsfp/285
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
PubMed ID
41466272
Language
English
Comments
This article is the author’s final published version in BMC Health Services Research, Volume 26, Issue 1, 2026, Article number 161.
The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-025-13860-w. Copyright © The Author(s) 2025.