Cure8 research brief
Virtual care reduced long-distance travel for IBD patients in remote Ontario, which both improves access to specialty care and appears to meaningfully lower travel-related CO2 emissions. Patients and clinics interested in equity or sustainability may find these results relevant.
Adults with IBD who live far from specialty centres, clinicians and program planners running virtual IBD clinics, health system policymakers focused on access or decarbonization, and researchers studying digital health or healthcare sustainability.
The researchers used a retrospective cohort from the PACE registry (Mount Sinai Hospital IBD Centre) including adults with Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, or IBD-unclassified who lived ≥100 km from the centre and had at least one virtual visit between 2016–2024.
They calculated two-way travel distances avoided per visit with Google Maps and converted distances to CO2 using a base factor (260 g CO2/km), plus sensitivity analyses for different vehicle and transport mixes. Over eight years, 389 patients completed 2,222 virtual visits.
The average two-way distance avoided per visit was about 843 km, estimated at ~219 kg CO2 avoided per visit, and a cumulative reduction of ~487,104 kg (487 tonnes) CO2 across the cohort. The authors conclude virtual care may be a scalable approach to improve access and reduce travel-related emissions.
The article reports modeled estimates of travel-related CO2 avoided using registry data and mapping software; results depend on assumptions about vehicle fuel types, routes, and whether patients would have otherwise traveled. The abstract does not report clinical outcomes or patient experience measures.
Review the original publication for the complete reporting, methods, and context.
This Cure8 brief is based on source text from the linked article. Cure8 is informational only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
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