Thinking About Care Pathways – Boston Scientific

Our Sustainability Team has been working more closely with our colleagues who are implementing value-based procurement (VBP) initiatives and supporting our Health Economists. Validating the benefits of interventions has focused on financial savings, patient outcome and efficiency benefits.

Recently, the Sustainability Team has been working to add an environmental assessment into this validation, although this is still in the early stages. As an example, if a pathway is more efficient, perhaps shortened by several days, with reduced activity such as bed days or face-to-face appointments or the reduced need to travel to a hospital, then that results in reduced environmental impact. 

Mapping activity in a pathway and assigning an emissions profile to that activity using known datasets has helped us to define a methodology which could be adapted for value-based procurements.

This environmental assessment has the potential to really enhance the value-based procurement work that we are doing and enable a fuller perspective on system savings.

Some of our existing VBPs with published case studies will be undergoing some re-validation work in the next financial year with the potential to include a Sustainability Savings Calculator. We hope to work with more suppliers and customers to implement the sustainability part of the methodology and fully quantify the environmental benefits.

Reviewing pathway activity through a sustainability lens is a great opportunity to identify decarbonisation potential and we will be further exploring this when re-looking at these case studies afresh and collaborating with our Health Economists and suppliers alike in 2025.

The work we’ve completed so far to quantify the carbon benefits of more efficient pathways indicates significant carbon reduction potential and it’s therefore vital we highlight this opportunity when implementing it with customers. 

One such opportunity is the case study on Rezūm™ Water Vapour Therapy, a minimally invasive therapy developed by Boston Scientific for men with lower urinary tract symptoms. When first published back in 2022, the focus of the case study was on improved patient experience, reducing theatre procedure time and length of hospital stay. By transitioning recovery from inpatient wards to day-case units, the initiative improved patient flow and overall capacity. These changes led to notable efficiencies, including financial, that were highlighted as a result of this.

The initial case study captured key themes such as collaboration, a shift beyond unit cost, and the adoption of innovative technologies to benefit both patients and the wider healthcare system. However, while sustainability benefits were present, they remained implicit rather than explicitly highlighted. Quantifying these environmental gains presents a valuable opportunity to deepen the impact and relevance of the case study.

The graphic below, taken from the original case study, illustrates the streamlined “After” pathway. By mapping the reduced clinical activity and assigning emissions profiles to each component, we can begin to quantify the pathway’s decarbonisation potential more precisely.

Before

After

Understanding more about the product and pathway opportunities to support our Net Zero journey is one thing but with Evergreen and Carbon Reduction Plans fully implemented in our procurement process, we’re now also gaining valuable insights from our suppliers.

As a supplier, Boston Scientific is one of the first in the Healthcare Equipment and Supplies sector to have science-based targets covering scopes 1, 2, and 3, approved under the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) Net-Zero Standard. These include both near-term and long-term commitments, reflecting a robust and forward-thinking approach to emissions reduction.

Their strategy to reduce scope 3 GHG emissions focuses not only on driving efficiency and sustainability across their own value chain, but also on actively engaging with their suppliers to identify and implement impactful sustainability initiatives. This kind of supplier collaboration is essential to accelerating progress across the system.

Collaboration to unlock opportunities on the pathway to Net Zero is one of the key aims of our supplier management programme and we want to have empowered conversations about sustainability with our suppliers. Our interactions with Boston Scientific facilitate this and we’ve been focused on enhancing skills and capability with a plan to scale up our collaboration with suppliers to unlock more sustainability opportunities in 2025.

However, we’re not alone as suppliers are on this journey too. Boston Scientific is a great example of a supplier with a strong focus on empowering employees, especially those managing customer relationships, with the training and tools needed to lead meaningful sustainability conversations. This is proving to be a win-win for our Supplier Management Programme, ensuring we’re all aligned in our purpose across the value chain.