In all IVI centers and all the people who are part of us, we are aware of the environment. For this reason, in recent times various measures have been implemented in the company that aim to reduce our environmental impact. One of the actions that we have launched this month, in which the World Environment Day It is The Forest of Life.
What is The Forest of Life?
At IVI we have decided, this June, to create our own shared forest, within the Reforestum project, for reforestation in Calahorra de Boedo (Palencia). All this with the aim of mitigating our carbon footprint and adding a new way to what we do best: create life. This action is included in our Quality Management System Policy and Environmental Policy, which reflects the main aspects of environmental sustainability.
This IVI forest of life has an area of 1.08 hectares and will absorb more than 200 tons of CO2 in 40 years. During this time, our forest will capture the equivalent of all the CO2 emissions we have generated from corporate travel and commuting during 2021.
These hectares of forest are home to 1,105 trees of up to 17 different species, generating a carbon sink. The forest is divided into forest shares of 174m2, representing each of the centers of the IVIRMA Global group. It is here where every day our professionals create life.
Although our activity is not very intensive in greenhouse gas emissions, our purpose is to carry out this exercise on a voluntary basis as a step towards an active and coherent policy in relation to climate change and the environment. This vision is translated into specific transversal actions carried out by the different areas of the company.
Digital, safe and environmentally responsible corporate culture
Within our sustainable development model we have another series of actions underway, among which digital transformation is the main strategic line. Our digital transformation has usability, closeness and environmental care as a priority.
In this sense, one of the most important sustainable actions is the IVI patient portal, which 80% of patients use. It is a tool with the latest digital innovations to contact and interact with the clinic. In addition, with the double objective of making the processes more comfortable for our patients, during 2021 we have also consolidated the first online visit and the automatic confirmations of the first visit by email. This digitization has also led us to reduce printed documentation by more than 30% in 2021, compared to the previous year. In addition, in Spain, Italy and Portugal we have reduced the purchase of paper by more than 60% in the last two years, directly influencing the reduction of its consumption.
Another of our great advances in sustainability has been the inclusion of the electronic prescription, in collaboration with the pharmacy service. With this, patients do not have to go to the clinic to pick up the paper prescription. The way it works is that they receive a QR code in their patient portal application to be able to pick up the medication at the pharmacy.
In addition, in the digitization process we have also included facial biometrics, which allows us to identify patients, based on the photo we have. With this, we also ensure that the patient is signing the corresponding consents, eliminating the use of paper. Finally, we have also incorporated a voice recognition tool. This allows us to streamline processes, eliminate the use of paper and make work more efficient. The artificial intelligence used by this tool detects the complex changes of intention in a dialogue, so that the patient feels understood. On the other hand, we have also incorporated the gestational discharge folders in digital format. We have replaced the paper material that was delivered to the patient with a personalized email that contains the discharge medical report and support information adapted to each geography.
In short, at IVI we have developed a series of management measures in recent years that help us reduce our environmental impact.
Waste management and energy consumption
In all our clinics in Spain we have a waste control, whose objective is to minimize the risk associated with the handling of these, as well as the amount of hazardous waste generated. During 2021, compared to the previous year, we managed to reduce the amount of hazardous waste generated by transfer by 16%.
In the energy field, our priority is the optimization of energy consumption thanks to the efficiency of buildings, equipment and vehicles.
Plugs for a new life
This project stems from an agreement with the SEUR Foundation through which we have collected 720,000 plastic caps to help a child with a serious illness. In addition to the strong social component of the project, at an environmental level, 360 trees would be needed to absorb that CO2 that our Human Team has avoided by recycling the caps provided.
