Environmental Performance Measurement in Hospitals: A Bibliometric Review of Literature (1987–2017)

Abstract

The publication of the Brundtland Report in 1987 has placed the term ‘sustainability’ as a paramount research topic in several disciplines. In the healthcare sector, hospitals have faced considerable demands: tougher legislation and ongoing pressures for cost reduction and improved quality, which have forced them to re-examine the performance of their operations and processes. Hospitals deal with a significant amount of hazardous and non-hazardous materials and generate polluting outputs. Moreover, in developing countries such as Brazil, healthcare operations involve high costs for provided services, limited productive resources and lack of public expenditure. Frameworks that directly address the measurement of environmental performance are regarded as crucial to address these demands. This study involves a bibliometric review of literature on the topic ‘hospital environmental performance measurement’ during the period 1987–2017, i.e., since the publication of the Brundtland Report. A certain prevalence of studies placed in high-income countries was found. Nevertheless, a growing focus on the specific context of developing countries was also identified. The content analysis revealed that the proposal and testing of frameworks for the measurement of environmental performance in hospitals is still an unsolved issue.