Asthma Return On Investment (ROI)
Calculator
The Asthma Return On Investment (ROI) Calculator helps State leaders
estimate the financial benefits of asthma quality improvement programs
in their State. The calculator combines information from the literature
with real-world data about patients to estimate the net impact
of an asthma care quality improvement program.
What Does This Tool Do?
The Asthma Return On Investment (ROI) Calculator helps State leaders estimate
the financial benefits of asthma quality improvement programs in their State.
The calculator combines information from literature with real-world data about
patients to estimate the net impact of an asthma care quality improvement program.
It includes information on medical utilization, cost of asthma, and asthma
prevalence, with particular focus on programs that highlight patient and provider
education on how to better manage the disease.
Who Should Use This Tool?
This tool should be used by:
- State health department officials and executive branch officials, including
State health departments, Medicaid officials, and benefit managers for State
employees.
- State governors and legislators.
- Nongovernmental State and local health care leaders (professional societies,
provider associations, hospital associations, quality improvement organizations,
voluntary health organizations, health plans, business coalitions, community
organizations, and consumer groups).
How Does This Tool Work?
The tool uses an Excel spreadsheet model, guiding users through six main steps:
- Users select the population for which the intervention is being designed.
- The calculator helps estimate the number and demographic characteristics
of participants in the asthma program.
- The calculator estimates the baseline utilization of medical services and
missed workdays for participating patients at baseline (i.e., without the
asthma program).
- Using impact estimates from the review and analysis of the literature,
the calculator estimates the asthma program impact in terms of reduction
or increase in hospital visits, emergency department visits, etc.
- The calculator provides program cost estimates from the literature or allows
the user to enter estimates from program vendors.
- The calculator estimates results of savings, costs, and overall ROI by
comparing the savings of the program (in terms of saved medical costs and/or
fewer missed workdays) with the cost of implementing the program.
What Type of Information Is Included in This Tool?
The Asthma ROI Calculator includes:
- A synthesis of 52 research studies on improving asthma care and implications
for cost savings.
- Knowledge of how asthma-related costs are likely to change for emergency
department visits, hospital stays, outpatient visits, medications, ancillary
tests, and missed schooldays or workdays.
- Options to describe benefits and costs from a third-party payer or societal
perspective.
- Ability to test strategies in designing an asthma care improvement program
based on:
- Children, adults, or both.
- All asthma patients or only those with persistent asthma.
- Medicaid, employer-sponsored insurance, or State insurance.
- Savings of direct medical costs and/or productivity gains.
- Length of the program.
- Vendor cost of the program.
- Default population and asthma prevalence data for the 50 States and D.C.
- Flexibility to enter baseline data for specific populations (a State program,
national program, or private health insurance plan).
- Ability to choose the rigor of the research design to use in estimating
savings.
How Can I Obtain the Tool?
The tool is available at: http://statesnapshots.ahrq.gov/asthma/. This tool was supported by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and built by Thomson Healthcare (formerly Medstat).
Current as of August 2009
Internet Citation:
Asthma Return On Investment Calculator. August 2009. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/kt/asthma/asthroisumm.htm
540 Gaither Road Rockville, MD 20850 