HHS’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality just released the Asthma Return-on-Investment (ROI) Calculator for exploring potential financial returns from quality improvement and disease management programs for populations diagnosed with asthma. The tool provides estimates based on an analysis of 52 research studies on improving asthma care and what those studies imply for cost savings.

Another return on investment tool accessible via the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality website is the Center for Health Care Strategies ROI Forecasting Calculator. This Forecasting Calculator provides value by determining the impact investments in program interventions may have on improving health outcomes by understanding the relationships among the intervention, the target population, service utilization, program costs, and discount rates.

These tools pair well with the CDC’s Chronic Disease Cost Calculator.  In addition to providing state-level estimates of medical expenditures and absenteeism costs for asthma, the CDC Version 2 tool can be employed to address other chronic diseases such as arthritis, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, depression, and diabetes.

Combined, these three cost estimate/return-on-investment tools may assist public health departments in capturing the effect the investments they make in public health prevention programming have on improving population health.