Power Prescriptions for the Heat Wave
Boston Medical Center’s Innovative Solution Helps Patients and the Environment
Hot enough for ya? The scorching and record-breaking heat wave of the past week has been relentless. It has forced some city and state governments to declare heat emergencies, issue heat advisories and alerts, close schools, and open cooling centers (see here, here) and it is likely to continue (here, here).
Here in Boston, I have found myself repeatedly saying “Thank god for AC.” I am fortunate enough to have a couple of window air conditioners that have kept my living and sleeping spaces comfortable. According to the Energy Information Agency, almost 90% of U.S. housing units have some sort of air control equipment – be they ceiling fans, dehumidifiers, window units, or central air. I shudder to think about the remaining 10% who must endure and cope with dangerous heat in other ways. CDC reports that heat-related illnesses and visits to emergency rooms spiked in regions hardest hit by this past week’s heat wave (here).
But that’s not why I’m penning this blog post. People are pretty well aware of how dangerous excessive heat can be. I’m writing because I was intrigued by an article I read this morning entitled “In a First-of-Its-Kind Program, Physicians at This Medical Center Now Write “Power Prescriptions.”
OK – it was early, and I only had a few sips of coffee. Power prescriptions? What does that mean? Not surprisingly, my mind first went to political power. I took another sip and clicked on the article. But first, a quick look at energy (that’s a hint).
Energy Insecurity
Energy insecurity is defined as the “inability to adequately meet basic household energy needs– specifically the electricity, gas, and other power sources that light, cool, heat our homes and keep our household appliances and other devices operating.
Energy insecurity means having to make difficult and sometimes health-threatening choices of which bills to pay. The utility bill or the food bill. The utility bill or the doctor or pharmacy bill. The utility bill or the credit card bill. These choices have profound implications for health and health equity (here, here). It is estimated that more than 30 million U.S. households are energy insecure (here, here,). And the need for these difficult choices is not equitably distributed. Low-income households, people of color, and indigenous families are disproportionately affected by energy insecurity.
Kudos to the Boston Medical Center (BMC)
For years, BMC physicians have been looking holistically at the health of their patients; screening them for what’s called the social determinants of health (SDOH) (here, here). With a tested screening tool, these caregivers collect information about social, i.e., non-medical, factors that affect patients’ health, like food, housing, transportation, economic stability, and yes – energy insecurity.
Although, like other states, Massachusetts has a science-based law that prevents power companies from terminating the utilities of customers with illnesses, many patients are unaware of this protection. BMC physicians have written hundreds of letters to energy companies in an effort to prevent their ill patients’ utilities from being cut off for non-payment of bills. Viewing this letter-writing effort as unsustainable, BMC created a new program: the Clean Power Prescription.
Essentially, the program uses energy credits generated by its new 365-kW solar panel to reduce patients’ electric bills. The program is in its pilot phase, with 80 households receiving monthly credits averaging $50 per month, for a total of $600 in savings per household per year.
This innovative program addresses several needs and issues at once. It helps poor patients with their energy bills; it prioritizes clean, renewable energy, and it furthers BMC’s broader sustainability efforts. BMC is also asking local businesses, real estate developers, and other companies to donate energy credits generated by their own solar panels to BMC patients.
Bottom Line:
I got really excited and inspired by this effort. Please read more about it yourself (here, here, here). It gives me hope and a great sense of pride in BMC and in my fair city.
About the Author
Kathleen Rest is a Senior Fellow in Boston University’s Institute for Global Sustainability and former Executive Director of the Union of Concerned Scientists where she oversaw the organization’s work on climate change, clean energy & transportation, sustainable agriculture, and protecting the integrity of science in public policy. She previously served as the Acting Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and has held faculty appointments at several medical schools. She has served on committees for the National Academies and authored publications on occupational and environmental health issues. She is a Board member for the Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics and the Institute for Policy Integrity at the NYU Law School. She is an Elected Fellow of the AAAS and a member of the American Public Health Association. She has a PhD in health policy from Boston University and a MPA from the University of Arizona.
The opinions expressed in the posts on SciLight are those of the individual authors.
Resources
A Model for Integrating SDOH Screening and Referral in the EHR - HealthCity (bmc.org)
Universal Screening to Protect Patients from Energy Insecurity - HealthCity (bmc.org)
Understanding ‘energy insecurity’ and why it matters to health - PMC (nih.gov)
Energy Insecurity And Health: America’s Hidden Hardship | Health Affairs
Energy-insecurity-fact-sheet-FINAL-adjusted-10.19.23.pdf (columbia.edu)
HQIC_EnergyUtilityInsecurity-Guide_final-508c (1).pdf - Google Drive