Patriotic Telehealth Expansion Calculator

Connecting rural families and veterans

Telehealth lets rural clinics deliver prenatal counseling, post-trauma therapy, and chronic disease management without requiring hours of travel. Conservative health networks use telehealth to serve veterans, pro-life pregnancy centers, and homeschooling families living far from specialists. The Patriotic Telehealth Expansion Calculator shows how capital costs, reimbursements, and patient savings stack up so boards can decide whether to launch or scale programs.

Policymakers often focus on reimbursement rates, yet the real value includes reduced no-shows and family travel savings. When telehealth visits replace long drives, clinics can serve more patients per day while families retain time for work or homeschooling. The calculator includes a community value multiplier to capture intangible benefits like veteran support groups or remote lactation consulting.

Financial assumptions

Net capital cost equals equipment and broadband investments minus grants. Additional telehealth visits generate monthly revenue based on reimbursement per visit. No-show reduction increases realized visits by multiplying visits by (1 + reduction percentage). Operating costs subtract from revenue to yield monthly cash flow. Annualized cash flow is discounted over the analysis period to compute NPV. Patient travel savings are multiplied by the community value multiplier to estimate non-cash benefits.

Example

Imagine four clinics investing $65,000 each in telehealth carts plus $12,000 for broadband. Grants cover $20,000 per site. Each clinic expects 220 additional visits monthly at $95 reimbursement, with no-shows falling 25 percent and operating costs rising $6,000 per month. Patient travel savings average $38 per visit. The calculator reveals net capital of $228,000, annual cash flow near $754,000, and a five-year NPV surpassing $1.6 million. Patient travel savings exceed $400,000 across the network when community value is applied.

Limitations

Reimbursement policies can change rapidly; confirm payer contracts before finalizing budgets. Broadband upgrades may require ongoing fees beyond the one-time cost. The calculator does not model staffing shortages or credentialing delays. Run multiple scenarios to capture best- and worst-case outcomes.