Australia’s health system is a major contributor to national greenhouse gas emissions. Reducing these impacts is a pressing priority. One way to address this is to consider the environmental impacts of healthcare in health technology assessments (HTA) and decision-making processes. 

HTA is complex, and there is no current consensus that environmental impacts should be formally considered within it. Work to determine if this is acceptable in Australia, and how it could be implemented, should be prioritised. This should align with similar work underway by international counterparts. The range of methods available to include environmental impacts in HTAs have not been thoroughly tested in Australia. The benefits and limitations of proposed methods need to be explored to understand their feasibility, and their impact on the decision-making process. 

This issues brief explores relevant methodologies and frameworks, providing insights on how integrating environmental impacts into HTAs can contribute to a more environmentally sustainable healthcare system.

Recommendations

1. Prioritise environmental considerations in HTA reform.
2. Test methods available to include environmental impacts in HTA.
3. Build capacity to generate environmental impact data.