ED Flow ROI Calculator
Emergency Department · Flow Improvement
ED Flow ROI Calculator
Model the annual revenue and return from reducing LWBS rate and shortening length of stay. Adjust the inputs to match your department.
Emergency Care Partnersv1.0 · directional planning tool
not a substitute for financial analysis
not a substitute for financial analysis
Inputs
Drag a slider or type an exact value.
% of presenting patients who leave without being seen
Relative reduction in the LWBS rate from the initiative
Arrival to discharge/admit
High = ESI 1–2, Medium = ESI 3, Low = ESI 4–5. Adjust high & medium; low fills the remainder.
Annual subsidy required for ED Management
ED is volume-constrained
There's unmet demand (turn-aways, competitor leakage, or growth) to fill freed bed-time. If unchecked, freed-capacity revenue is removed — treat it as cost avoidance instead.
Net annual benefit
$14,645,000
after initiative cost
ROI
5,858%
net benefit ÷ cost
Payback period
< 1 month
time to recover cost
Annual visit corridor — where the volume goes
Treated today
Still LWBS after initiative
Captured from reduced LWBS
Additional throughput, freed capacity
Revenue & volume breakdown
| Metric | Result |
|---|---|
| Blended revenue per visit | $1,300 |
| Patients captured from reduced LWBS | 675 / yr |
| Additional throughput from freed capacity | 11,250 / yr |
| Revenue from LWBS capture | $270,000 |
| Revenue from freed capacity | $14,625,000 |
| Total additional annual revenue | $14,895,000 |
| Net annual benefit (after initiative cost) | $14,645,000 |
Assumptions & limitations
- Freed-capacity revenue assumes the ED is volume-constrained. If it isn't, the realistic benefit looks more like cost avoidance (staffing/overtime savings) — use the toggle above to remove that line.
- LWBS patients are assumed to bill at the low-acuity rate. Adjust the low-acuity revenue figure if your LWBS population skews differently.
- Revenue figures are net of expected reimbursement, not gross charges. Use payer-mix-adjusted figures for accuracy.
- The model excludes boarding/bed-block cost, ambulance diversion, staffing overtime, and patient-experience/reimbursement-penalty effects — these can be material and can be added as line items.
- All outputs scale linearly with inputs. This is a directional planning tool, not a substitute for a detailed operational or financial analysis.