Environmental Performance
Measurement in Hospitals:
A Bibliometric Review of Literature
(1987–2017)
Andreia Pasqualini Blass, Sergio E. Gouvea da Costa,
Edson Pinheiro de Lima, Ubiratã Tortato and Lilian Adriana Borges
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 reexamine 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 counA. P. Blass (B)
Operations Management Division, UNIDAVI, Rua Dr Guilherme Gemballa 13, Rio do Sul
89160-932, Brazil
e-mail: apasqualini@unidavi.edu.br
S. E. Gouvea da Costa · E. Pinheiro de Lima
Industrial and Systems Engineering, Pontifical Catholic University of Parana (PUCPR), Rua
Imaculada Conceição 1155, Curitiba 80215-901, Brazil
e-mail: s.gouvea@pucpr.br
E. Pinheiro de Lima
e-mail: e.pinheiro@pucpr.br
Industrial and Systems Engineering, Federal University of Technology - Parana (UTFPR),
Rodovia do Conhecimento km 1, Pato Branco 85503-390, Brazil
U. Tortato
Business School, Pontifical Catholic University of Parana (PUCPR), Rua Imaculada Conceição
1155, Curitiba 80215-901, Brazil
e-mail: ubirata.tortato@pucpr.br
L. A. Borges
UNIDAVI, Rua Dr Guilherme Gemballa 13, Rio do Sul 89160-932, Brazil
e-mail: lilian.borges@unidavi.edu.br
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
W. Leal Filho et al. (eds.), Universities and Sustainable Communities:
Meeting the Goals of the Agenda 2030, World Sustainability Series,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30306-8_8
133
Measurement in Hospitals:
A Bibliometric Review of Literature
(1987–2017)
Andreia Pasqualini Blass, Sergio E. Gouvea da Costa,
Edson Pinheiro de Lima, Ubiratã Tortato and Lilian Adriana Borges
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 reexamine 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 counA. P. Blass (B)
Operations Management Division, UNIDAVI, Rua Dr Guilherme Gemballa 13, Rio do Sul
89160-932, Brazil
e-mail: apasqualini@unidavi.edu.br
S. E. Gouvea da Costa · E. Pinheiro de Lima
Industrial and Systems Engineering, Pontifical Catholic University of Parana (PUCPR), Rua
Imaculada Conceição 1155, Curitiba 80215-901, Brazil
e-mail: s.gouvea@pucpr.br
E. Pinheiro de Lima
e-mail: e.pinheiro@pucpr.br
Industrial and Systems Engineering, Federal University of Technology - Parana (UTFPR),
Rodovia do Conhecimento km 1, Pato Branco 85503-390, Brazil
U. Tortato
Business School, Pontifical Catholic University of Parana (PUCPR), Rua Imaculada Conceição
1155, Curitiba 80215-901, Brazil
e-mail: ubirata.tortato@pucpr.br
L. A. Borges
UNIDAVI, Rua Dr Guilherme Gemballa 13, Rio do Sul 89160-932, Brazil
e-mail: lilian.borges@unidavi.edu.br
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
W. Leal Filho et al. (eds.), Universities and Sustainable Communities:
Meeting the Goals of the Agenda 2030, World Sustainability Series,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30306-8_8
133