Exploring Quantitative Methodologies for Assessing the Environmental, Social, and Economic Impacts of Telemedicine: A Literature Review

Abstract

The significant consumption of resources within the healthcare sector underscores the need to address both efficiency and sustainability concerns. Telemedicine has been identified as one of the most promising pathways for reducing the environmental impacts of the healthcare sector. However, a comprehensive sustainability assessment is still required. The main aim of the present study is to conduct a systematic literature review to explore approaches and methodologies employed for quantifying the environmental, social, and economic impacts of telemedicine. Moreover, the research seeks to determine whether the approaches focus on a single aspect or whether they allow for a comprehensive assessment including all three sustainability pillars. The searching phase was conducted in the Scopus and PubMed databases, considering last 10 years (i.e., 2013–2023). Keywords were related to remote care and sustainability impact fields. Following the PRISMA framework, out of 477 articles, 91 studies were included in the analysis. Primary findings highlighted that studies on telemedicine impacts predominantly focus on transport-related aspects, emphasizing direct emissions and associated costs that are avoided and time savings. Televisit emerged as the most investigated remote care activity. Database and conversion factors were mainly employed for analysis, while other methodologies were sporadically mentioned in the literature. Despite numerous papers addressing these issues, a standardized and comprehensive methodology still appears to be lacking. Future works should consider the entire life cycle process, including more stakeholders. A defined approach will be fundamental to move beyond theoretical discussions and provide actionable insights for healthcare practitioners, policymakers, and researchers.