Team Name

Health Math NZ

Team Members

Project Description

Project Description: The Interoperability Benefits Calculator

The Interoperability Benefits Calculator is a investment support tool designed mainly for hospitals. It quantifies the direct financial and productivity benefits of adopting New Zealand's Interoperability Standards in diagnostic services mandated by Health Information Standards Organisation (HISO).

By modelling reductions in duplicate testing, preventable readmissions, and clinician administrative workload, the calculator translates health data interoperability into measurable economic outcomes for organisations.

The tool provides:
- Customisable organisation setup: users can enter values such as annual tests, discharges, clinician numbers, and wage costs.
- Evidence-based defaults: preloaded figures grounded in New Zealand data and international research (e.g., AJMC, JAMA, NZMJ).
- Interactive dashboard: calculates annual savings, ROI, and net benefit after implementation costs, with results visualised in a clear bar chart.
- Transparent methodology: every assumption and formula is backed with linked references, ensuring credibility for business cases and funding proposals.

This project bridges the gap between health data interoperability investment and measurable productivity gains, equipping healthcare providers with a practical, evidence-driven framework to support interoperability adoption.

Data Story

Data Story: Making the Case for Interoperability

1. Introduction — The Big Question

• New Zealand is investing billions in digital health and interoperability.
• But stakeholders ask: “Do these investments translate into real productivity gains for healthcare organisations?”

2. The Problem

• Duplicate tests waste resources and expose patients to unnecessary procedures.
  
• Preventable readmissions drive up costs and occupy scarce bed space.
  
• Clinician admin time reduces time available for patient care and increases workforce stress.
  
• Organisations struggle to connect these inefficiencies with a clear financial story.

3. The Opportunity

• Interoperability Standards enable seamless sharing of diagnostic and clinical information across hospitals and GP networks.
  
• Evidence shows:
  • Up to 25% reduction in duplicate diagnostic tests (AJMC 2015).
    
  • Around 30% of readmissions are preventable (AHRQ).
    
  • Clinicians can save 5–10 minutes per visit through reduced admin burden (JAMA 2023).
    

4. The Data Model

• Inputs: hospital/GP network data — annual discharges, test volumes, clinician numbers, costs.
  
• Evidence-based defaults: derived from New Zealand data and international studies.
  
• Calculations:
  
  • Productivity Gain = Clinicians × Visits × Minutes saved × Clinician cost/minute.
    
  • Test Savings = Tests × Duplicate rate × Reduction × Cost/test.
    
  • Readmission Savings = Discharges × Readmission rate × Reduction × Preventable% × Cost/readmission.
    
• Outputs: Annual savings, ROI, and Net Benefit after investment.

5. Results (The Story in Numbers)

• Gross savings are shown across three dimensions: admin time, duplicate test avoidance, and reduced readmissions.
  
• Net benefit is calculated after factoring in implementation costs ($800k–$3m depending on hospital size).
  
• ROI is clear, visualised via a simple bar chart that compares Gross Savings vs. Net Benefit.

6. Organisational Impact

• Hospitals: tangible cost savings, increased workforce efficiency, more beds available.
  
• GP networks: reduced administrative load, faster diagnostic turnaround.
  
• Executives & Boards: evidence-backed ROI to guide digital investment decisions.

7. Conclusion — Closing the Loop

• The Interoperability Benefits Calculator translates abstract interoperability goals into practical, financial outcomes.
  
• By grounding each assumption in evidence, it builds trust with decision makers.
  
• The story is no longer “interoperability is good” — it’s “interoperability pays off.”