Though there’s many aspects to being a healthcare administrator, one aspect that isn’t often discussed while you’re earning your master’s degree in health administration is how to make your facility more eco-friendly. However, pushing your facility toward a more “green” future can have a big impact in customer satisfaction, budget management, and even employee morale. Here are a few ways to help your facility have a smaller impact on the planet. Read on to learn more!

Recycle

Though a lot of the waste that your facility produces can’t be recycled since it is contaminated, recycling the portion that is available can lower your trash bill and even provide some income through raw materials purchasers who purchase some of your recyclables in bulk. The easiest way to promote a successful recycling program is to have bins available throughout your facility to make it easy for people to participate in the program. If people have to expend any extra effort over simply throwing something away, it’s unlikely the program will be very successful.

Utilize Alternative Energy

As of the third quarter of 2014, about 1,354 megawatts of solar power were being generated throughout the United States. This figure was 41% higher than the year before. This suggests that solar power is becoming more accessible for more people. As a healthcare administrator, it’s likely that you’re in charge of a fairly sprawling facility, making your facility a perfect candidate to utilize solar power. The upfront costs can be high in many cases, but with a facility of your size, the costs will be quickly recouped.

Lower Power Usage

A healthcare facility requires a lot of power to maintain a safe and stable environment for patients. Anything ,then, that can be done to lower power consumption will have a big impact on your facility’s bottom line. Consider first those components of your facility that are deployed on a large scale, such as computers and lights, and begin with programs to ensure those utilize less energy.

This may mean adjusting settings on computers to put them to sleep sooner, replacing incandescent bulbs with LED variants, or something entirely different that makes sense for your facility. Whatever the case, most changes to utilize less energy are fairly simple fixes that can have a major impact.

Use Less Paper

If there’s one thing any healthcare facility is known for, it’s the mountains of paperwork that are required to ensure it operates effectively. From patient records to discharge papers to charting paperwork, so much of how you take care of those under your care depends on paper. By transitioning some of these functions to electronic versions, you will quickly notice a sharp reduction in your paper usage. Not only that, but electronic records make information easily available across the facility, as well as allowing patients to interact with their records once they’ve gone home.

Be Aware

So much of what goes on in a healthcare facility is based on rigid procedures that are in place to ensure the safety of the patients. While procedures are important, understanding why these procedures exist and then analyzing them to see if they can be done more efficiently are the best ways to help your facility operate more efficiently. One thing’s for sure: if you keep doing things the same way, you can’t expect anything to change. If you desire to see change, though, you’re going to have to do some things differently.