HIMSS25: A look into UPMC's digital health ROI framework

Value quantification framework & methodology

During the session, McSherry detailed the three buckets of UPMC's quantification framework.

The first one is the "value category." These define the primary benefit to the health system and include categories like "clinician time savings," "staff time savings," "IT resource savings,=" and "revenue."

"[These categories are] what [the health system has] determined as the relevant criteria when they're assessing the impact of digital health and justifying to their CIO and their CFO the increased spend, the increased deployment of new digital health initiatives," said McSherry. 

The second is the description. These are questions that describe each value category. For instance, the description for "clinician time savings" is "How many minutes of clinician time can be saved per patient?" while the description for "IT resource savings" is "Does the platform reduce UPMC IT burden?"

The framework also includes a more detailed description, or "commentary," of the value that each category brings to clinical service lines. For the "clinician time savings" category, the commentary could read, "By sending education pre-and post-appointment, MDs can focus appointment times on other patient concerns. Platform is used within Epic in lieu of logging into a different web browser." For the "IT resource savings" category, the commentary could read, "Digital health platform can deploy and maintain workflows without needing IT resources."

Using this framework, UPMC makes upfront ROI justifications for its digital health programs. However, the other side of the value quantification coin is assessing whether the tools were effective and provided the benefits outlined above. 

UPMC has developed a calculation for "value" derived from digital health programs. The calculation considers the maximum value per patient and multiplies it by patient volume and patient engagement. The health system defines maximum value per patient as the worth to the system if the patient takes a desired action, patient volume as the number of patients reached and engagement as the percentage of patients who took the desired action.

Additionally, the health system takes into account cost savings derived from the programs, defined as the hourly rate of required resources multiplied by hours avoided.

How UPMC's digital health programs fare

The quantification framework and assessment methodology have enabled the health system to measure the impact of its digital health programs and compare them, if applicable.

Take UPMC's home physical therapy program. In this program, therapists provide customized exercises digitally for patients to do at home. The therapists can customize the exercises within the EHR using an integrated dashboard.

The program's value category is "clinician time savings." The health system found that therapists saved 1.5 minutes per patient and reduced user error by not having to log into multiple systems and copy/paste between them.

Further, using the methodology outlined above, the value per patient was $2.03, and with a patient volume of 55,268 in 2023, the annual value was $112,194. Additionally, the health system saved $81 per hour of fully loaded costs for PT staff, including wages and benefits.

Another example is the value quantification of UPMC's shared decision-making program for breast cancer surgery.

The program aims to prep the woman for the surgery "so that when they are in that consult, the patient is better engaged and knows the right questions, has answered questions that the clinician can review in a joint fashion so that when they have that conversation, it's more actionable, it's more informed," McSherry said.

The program saves 5 minutes of clinician time by automating the process of sending patients educational information, relieving clinicians of manually copying/pasting links or printing out information for the patient.

The program's annual value in 2023 totaled $28,224, and the health system accrued cost savings of $250 an hour of clinical time.

With digital health tools continuing to dominate the healthcare arena, health systems must develop frameworks and methodologies like these to ensure that they are reaping the promised rewards of digital healthcare cost-effectively. Conducting quantitative analyses will also make it easier to gain C-suite buy-in for digital health programs.

Not to mention, the improvements in patient experience could offer long-lasting benefits to the health system. 

"The patient is happier, the patient is better informed, the patient is more satisfied, more loyal to your system," McSherry said.

Anuja Vaidya has covered the healthcare industry since 2012. She currently covers the virtual healthcare landscape, including telehealth, remote patient monitoring and digital therapeutics.