ESG Reporting For Healthcare

In recent years, ‘ESG’ has become the phrase du jour of every business school and board room. The health sector has always loved a good acronym, so it was inevitable this would make it to the healthcare industry also. But what does it mean?

The below article will explain the meaning of ESG, how the healthcare industry has a particular interest in the social governance aspect of it, and why your healthcare organisation should consider using the channel software to report on it.

Psychologically safe healthcare organisations result in better patient outcomes. Learn more about chnnl here.

The Meaning of ESG

ESG stands for ‘Environment, Social and Governance’ and has its roots in the 1960s socially responsible investing movement. The term was born in 2006 in a United Nations report on responsible investing, and core concepts overlap with 2015 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Key to ESG is the idea that business can be a force for good, so long as end points pursued are more than simply profit. Further to this, business does not exist as an island and the effect on the wider physical and social ecosystem must be considered.

ESG & The Healthcare Sector

This is not such a strange concept to the health sector. The nature of the industry requires consideration of multiple stakeholders, such as staff, unions, funders and patients. Employees enter the field due to intrinsic motivators rather than solely financial reward. Hospitals operate in cooperation with their communities. The entire field of health economics operates on the understanding that our actions in the system have implications for 3^rd parties. 

Healthcare organisations already know that this wider focus pays dividends. It enables organisations to operate better: best practice brings best outcomes. For this reason, corporate ESG reporting is becoming increasingly expected around the world and mandated for public companies in many jurisdictions. Employers should consider their employees stakeholders, and this denotes some duty toward them.  

Beyond Compliance

This obligation extends to providing a workplace that enhances employee wellbeing by minimising psychological risks. Demonstrating this commitment is one component of ESG reporting. Increasingly, hospitals are recognising the importance of employee wellbeing metrics in addition to patient outcomes.

Forward-thinking healthcare executives know these two are inextricably linked. These leaders also know that solely providing psychological services to employees at an individual level only treats a symptom not the underlying cause. True psychological safety comes at an organisation level.

Why Consider chnnl For ESG Reporting

Diagnosing an organisation requires a new kind of tool: chnnl provides that insight. Rather than a one-off screen, our platform provides ongoing monitoring of the psychological wellbeing of your organisation. This data informs you where and why things are going wrong (or right!). It directs your employees to relevant services as required so you know you are looking out for your team. In addition to the live dashboard, regular reports are generated that provide data that can be used for ESG purposes at board or reporting level.

We provide the data so that you can provide the outcomes.