Sustainability: An emerging dimension of clinical decision making

This event occurred as part of CleanMed 2024. For information about CleanMed, the premier national conference for leaders in health care sustainability, visit CleanMed.org.

Clinical decisions drive health care's environmental impact. Through interactive clinical vignettes, presenters shared two high-impact ways clinical decision-making can be more sustainable: selecting alternative tests and treatments and minimizing low-value care. Learn to consider environmental factors alongside clinical efficacy, cost, and patient preference when choosing medical tests and treatments.

Presenters emphasized how the appropriate use of diagnostic tests prevents further harmful cascades of care, including low-value care that incurs financial and environmental harms. You will also hear about diagnostic stewardship, or the rational use of laboratory testing to guide patient care, as a strategy for reducing low-value care and promoting sustainability.