ESG and Information Governance in Healthcare: A Path to Sustainable and Compliant Operations

U.S. healthcare providers face a dual challenge: delivering high-quality care while operating sustainably and ethically. Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) programs, coupled with robust Information Governance (IG) strategies, have emerged as critical tools for healthcare organizations striving to meet these complex demands.

In this final installment of our ESG blog series, we explore the challenges healthcare organizations face ensuring their ESG program embraces a disciplined information governance framework.

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The Growing Importance of ESG in Healthcare

The healthcare sector stands at a crossroads, accounting for a significant 8.5% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. This startling statistic has placed the industry under intense scrutiny, with stakeholders demanding action on multiple fronts. It’s not just about reducing carbon footprints, it’s about reimagining healthcare delivery to address social inequities and improve community health outcomes.

The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has recognized this shift, emphasizing the societal elements of ESG programs. They see ESG not just as a compliance exercise, but as a powerful catalyst for positive change in healthcare delivery and community well-being.

Consider the case of Greenville Memorial Hospital, which launched an ambitious ESG program in 2022. By focusing on three key area – reducing energy consumption, implementing a community health outreach program and enhancing data privacy measures – they saw remarkable results. Within a year, they reduced their carbon emissions by 15%, increased preventive care visits in underserved communities by 30% and significantly bolstered their cybersecurity defenses.

Key Societal Aspects of ESG in Healthcare:

1. Health Equity: The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare the stark disparities in healthcare access and outcomes across different demographic groups, with disadvantaged communities often facing higher infection, hospitalization and mortality rates. This was often due to pre-existing conditions, inadequate access to healthcare, misinformation and employment in frontline jobs without adequate protective measures. ESG programs are now focusing on marshaling the resources to bridge these gaps, to improve the accessibility to quality care for disadvantaged and at-risk populations.
2. Community Health Initiatives: Healthcare providers are stepping beyond their traditional roles, implementing programs that promote wellness and prevention in local communities. These initiatives aim to address the root causes of health issues, prevent chronic conditions and promote healthier lifestyles—leading to long-term benefits for both public health and the healthcare system. This is highlighted, for example, by programs aimed at addressing social determinants of health (SDOH), such as housing, food security and education, which have a direct impact on health outcomes.
3. Workforce Development: In an industry plagued by burnout and staff shortages, investing in staff training and creating a diverse, inclusive work environment has become a key ESG priority. For example, while physician burnout rates have improved since COVID-19,  with the latest data from the American Medical Association (AMA) revealing burnout rates of between 45% and 50%, the rates are still alarming. These rates create a need to increase focus on workforce health initiatives which not only improve employee satisfaction but also directly impacts the quality of patient care.

Information Governance: The Backbone of ESG Success

While taking an ESG focus toward institutional initiatives provides a broad vision, effective Information Governance (IG) offers many of the tools needed to achieve these ambitious goals. IG is a framework that ensures data – the lifeblood of modern healthcare – is managed securely, efficiently and in compliance with regulations including both federal laws like HIPAA, HITECH, ACA, PSQIA and the 21st Century Cures Act and important state laws like California’s CCPA/CPRA, Texas Medical Records Privacy Act, New York’s SHIELD Act, Illinois’ BIPA, and Massachusetts Data Security Regulations.

Take the example of Midwest Health Network, which struggled to accurately report on its ESG initiatives due to fragmented data systems. Fragmented systems often lead to inconsistent data, poor integration and difficulties in consolidating ESG metrics. By implementing a comprehensive IG strategy, they were able to consolidate their data, improve its quality and gain valuable insights into their ESG performance. This shift not only improved their reporting capabilities but also allowed them to make data-driven decisions that positively impacted their sustainability and social responsibility efforts.

IG Best Practices for Healthcare ESG Programs:

1. Data Quality Management: Ensuring accurate and consistent data is crucial for ESG reporting and decision-making. Organizations seeking to promote successful ESF initiatives must implement comprehensive data governance policies that set standards for data accuracy, consistency, and completeness. Regular data audits ensure that data remains clean and up-to-date, reducing discrepancies and inaccuracies that could compromise ESG reporting. Also, leveraging advanced analytics tools, such as AI and machine learning, helps derive deeper insights from ESG data by automating the data validation processes, flagging inconsistencies, and helping to interpret complex datasets, to derive meaningful ESG insights.
2. Regulatory Compliance: The ESG regulatory landscape is constantly evolving, forcing healthcare organizations to stay vigilant. Implementing a robust IG framework helps healthcare organizations to develop agile and proactive regulatory solutions aimed at reducing the risk of penalties and reputational damage. This framework should include regularly tracking regulatory changes through tools that ensure real-time visibility of key information, aligning data practices with industry standards and ensuring that privacy and security policies meet or exceed compliance benchmarks.
3. Data Security: In an era of increasing cyber threats, protecting sensitive patient and organizational data is paramount. IG strategies that systematically approach safeguarding PII and PHI through strategies like encryption, redaction tools, access controls and secure data storage help safeguard this information, building trust with patients and stakeholders. This provides a systematic approach to safeguarding data through strategies like encryption, access controls and secure data storage.

The DHHS Perspective on ESG and IG

The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has recognized the intrinsic link between ESG goals and effective information governance. In a recent statement, the DHHS emphasized, “Robust information governance is essential for healthcare organizations to accurately track and report on their ESG initiatives, particularly those related to health equity and community impact.”

 Practically, this means that healthcare organizations are increasingly expected to track and report on ESG metrics—especially those related to health equity, community impact, and sustainability—with a high degree of accuracy and transparency.

Additionally, this  acknowledgment from DHHS underscores the importance of integrating ESG and IG strategies.

It’s not enough to have good intentions; healthcare organizations need the data infrastructure to continuously measure, analyze, and improve their ESG performance continually. Without reliable, findable, and secure data, tracking health equity initiatives—such as expanding care access to underserved populations or reducing health disparities—becomes ineffective, leading to potential non-compliance with evolving ESG reporting standards.

Implementing ESG and IG in Your Healthcare Organization

Embarking on an ESG and IG journey may seem daunting, but it’s a necessary step for healthcare organizations aiming to thrive in the future. Start by conducting a comprehensive ESG assessment to evaluate your current performance across environmental, social and governance factors. This will provide a baseline to help you identify areas for improvement and set measurable targets across environmental, social and governance factors. For example, a common environmental need is improved energy efficiency in hospitals, a social factor could focus on health equity and community outreach, and governance could involve compliance with data security and patient privacy regulations.

Once the baseline goals are established, you should develop an IG strategy that aligns with your ESG goals. This might involve upgrading your data management systems to promote improved tracking of ESG data, training staff on information governance best practices, or implementing new analytics tools to monitor key indicators like carbon emissions, health equity initiatives or community health impacts.

Remember, this is not a one-time effort but an ongoing process of improvement and adaptation. Engage with your stakeholders — patients, staff, and community members—by regularly involving patients, staff, and community members, you can help ensure that your ESG initiatives are meaningful and responsive to their needs. This type of engagement also helps build trust and align your efforts with community expectations and patient care priorities, which is particularly important for healthcare organizations aiming to address health disparities and social determinants of health.

Conclusion

As we navigate the complexities of modern healthcare, ESG and Information Governance have become indispensable tools for success. They offer a framework not just for compliance, but for meaningful, sustainable improvement in how we deliver care and interact with our communities.

In an era where healthcare organizations are increasingly monitored and ranked on their ESG performance, taking proactive steps towards sustainable and ethical operations is not just good practice – it’s essential for long-term viability. By embracing ESG and IG principles, healthcare providers can improve patient outcomes, reduce environmental impact and build stronger, more resilient communities.

Ultimately, integrating ESG with IG fosters resilience and transparency, driving long-term value for both your organization and the communities you serve. By investing in comprehensive IG strategies, healthcare providers can align ESG objectives with robust data management, improving both sustainability and patient outcomes.

Begin your ESG journey by assessing current operations, upgrading data infrastructure, and training staff to drive long-term value for your organization and community. If you are interested in learning more about how your organization can enhance its ESG strategies, please reach out!