April 12, 2024- The Collective Healthcare Action to Reduce MedTech Emissions (CHARME) collaborative launched with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions that arise from the multi-billion dollar U.S. medical device and equipment supply chain. The MedTech (medical device, equipment, service, and distribution) supply chain accounts for 7% of U.S. health care greenhouse gas emissions. The Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council is leading this effort in partnership with Kaiser Permanente and Vizient.
CHARME fills a critical gap in existing decarbonization initiatives and has the potential to improve emission reductions in activities such as manufacturing and transportation practices across the MedTech supply chain. A total of 13 organizations comprising of national and global health systems, medical device and equipment suppliers, distributors, group purchasing organizations, and other key industry stakeholders have expressed their intent to participate, including Advocate Health; Becton, Dickinson and Company; Cardinal Health; Cencora; Health Care Without Harm; Northwell Health; and Stryker, and more organizations are joining daily.