Decision Intelligence for Healthcare Decarbonization

Decarbonization goals in healthcare have increased significantly. Their achievement requires aligning environmental objectives with improvements in financial performance and health outcomes. Among a wide range of options, the healthcare sector can (i) adopt successful decarbonization strategies from other energy intensive sectors, and (ii) enhance its patient-focused activities with decarbonization potential. This work provides examples of this adopt-and-enhance approach, spotlighting the enabling role of decision intelligence (DI), that is, the decision-centered use of data and technology. First, we discuss DI for managing risks in adopting renewables on site in a hospital. Second, we highlight the challenge posed by access inequity in decarbonizing tuberculosis care delivery and propose a DI research framework to study this challenge. These examples highlight the potential for DI to accelerate decarbonization.