The green backbone of digital health: Why clean energy must power the next wave of innovation

Around the world, health systems are investing in smart infrastructure, cloud platforms, and data-informed care. These innovations come with an underrecognized cost. They are energy hungry, continually driving energy costs and emissions higher. Without a shift toward clean, renewable energy, our progress in digital health is compounding the population health issues we are trying to solve: chronic disease, acute respiratory illness, maternal and newborn complications and major health impact on the elderly. 

The energy cost of healthcare’s digital ambitions

Hospitals are among the most energy-intensive facilities in any sector, and most of that energy supply is still from fossil fuels. Already responsible for 8.5% of US carbon emissions and 5% globally, healthcare’s environmental footprint is poised to grow as more organizations scale artificial intelligence, IoT, cyber resilience, ‘care anywhere’ digital ecosystems and person centric workflows.

Data centers and real-time monitoring tools require round-the-clock uptime, adding further pressure to aging infrastructure and fragile power grids.

Without renewable energy, healthcare’s digital transformation risks being unsustainable, both environmentally and operationally, contributing to the cost burden but not delivering long-term benefits. 

Clean power = smart strategy

Investing in renewable energy sources like solar, wind, geothermal, is no longer just an environmental gesture. It’s now a strategic digital health enabler and risk management strategy. Here’s why:

• Operational Resilience: On-site solar and battery storage can power critical systems during grid failures, natural disasters, and outages.
• Cost Stability: Clean energy sources can reduce long-term utility expenses and buffer against price volatility.
• Public Health Alignment: Reducing emissions supports respiratory and cardiovascular health, key concerns in high-pollution regions.
• AI Sustainability: Offsetting the energy demands of digital health reduces the carbon intensity of innovation. 

Sustainability as a digital KPI

Forward-looking organizations are using sustainability metrics to guide digital strategy. The Digital Health Most Wired global survey is the first digital capability assessment program to include climate sustainability and resilience benchmarks that evaluate health system readiness to deliver high quality, accessible care in a climate-impacted, energy-volatile world, to populations that are increasingly affected by climate change.

Alignment between digital maturity and environmental resilience helps health systems identify their gaps, track improvement, and make smarter capital investment decisions. 

Making the business Case: From boardroom to bedside

Winning support for clean energy in the C-suite means speaking the language of value:

• Risk Mitigation: Position renewables as business continuity tools that protect against climate-related outages.
• Return on Investment: Highlight five-to-ten-year payback periods for energy upgrades in the context of rising AI and IT demands.
• Mission Alignment: Emphasize consistency with health equity, population health, workforce retention and ESG goals.
• Reputation and Compliance: Show how lagging on climate action can impact accreditation, public trust, health of communities and investor confidence. 

Five clean energy moves every digital health leader should consider

1. Require renewable energy commitments from cloud and SaaS vendors.
2. Invest in solar, microgrids, and battery storage at hospital sites.
3. Integrate life-cycle analysis and carbon metrics into procurement.
4. Embed climate readiness into digital transformation roadmaps.
5. Track and report sustainability metrics alongside all other organizational performance metrics. 

A clean digital future starts now

Digital health and clean energy aren’t mutually exclusive or competing priorities. They’re interdependent pillars of resilient, equitable healthcare. As AI, automation, and connectivity redefine care delivery, we must ensure our energy systems are just as intelligent, adaptive, and sustainable.

Let your next innovation be powered by the sun. The future of healthcare depends on it. 

Toni Laracuente RN, BSN, MHA, MS, CPDHTS is Head of Analytics and Digital Health at CHIME and a global advisor on digital health strategy and ecosystem design. With a background in critical care nursing, clinical informatics, quality improvement, and digital health transformation, she brings over 30 years of healthcare experience to her work. A published author and conference speaker, Toni champions the use of data and innovation to advance high-quality, equitable care and improve digital experience for clinicians and patients. She has a specific focus at the intersection of technology and planetary health, driving strategies for decarbonization and climate resilience in digitally advanced healthcare systems. She is the author of Digital Technologies for Climate Change Resilient Health Systems (Schuer and Studzinsky, 2025) and is an adjunct faculty member in healthcare management and informatics at Florida International University. 

Toni is available via LinkedIn and at [email protected]. 

About Digital Health Most Wired 

The Digital Health Most Wired (DHMW) program represents the global industry standard for measuring adoption of digitally enabled, data informed care across healthcare organizations. Through annual assessments of person-centric workflow processes, data quality and accessibility, technology value contribution, DHMW evaluates healthcare providers against established benchmarks and their peers. This evaluation and the reporting that it informs provides a comprehensive snapshot of their current state, and guidance on where to go next with digital strategy, investments and, most importantly, building a patient centric digital health ecosystem.    

DHMW also recognizes excellence in digital health implementation. The program focuses on stakeholder- and organization-centric outcomes aligned with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s Quintuple Aim, across the following enterprise domains:  

• Data Security and Privacy 
• Clinical Quality and Safety 
• Patient Engagement 
• Infrastructure 
• Interoperability and Population Health 
• Digital Innovation 
• RCM and Administration 
• Supply Chain 

DHMW data informs the annual Digital Trends report, internal CHIME research, and external industry reporting, serving as a roadmap for advancing digitally enabled care across all care delivery environments.