Patriotic Telehealth Expansion Calculator for Rural and Veteran-Focused Clinics

How the telehealth expansion model works

At a high level, the calculator compares the total net capital investment with the present value of future net cash flow and community benefits over your chosen analysis period.

1. Net capital cost per clinic

For each clinic, you enter the one-time costs and any grant support:

• Capital Cost per Clinic: hardware, telehealth carts, cameras, peripherals, installation, and one-time vendor fees.
• Broadband Upgrade Cost per Clinic: construction, routers, or bandwidth upgrades that are treated as capital.
• Grant Support per Clinic: one-time grants, philanthropic gifts, or earmarked government funding that directly reduces your out-of-pocket capital.

The net capital cost per clinic is:

where C is net capital per clinic, C_equip is equipment cost, C_broadband is broadband cost, and G is grant support. Total network capital is this figure multiplied by the number of clinics.

2. Additional telehealth visits and revenue

You estimate the extra monthly telehealth volume created by the project:

• Additional Telehealth Visits per Month (per clinic): visits that would not occur without the expansion, including recovered no-shows.
• Average Reimbursement per Visit: average collected payment per visit across your main payers and programs.
• No-show Reduction (%): the percentage improvement in kept appointments due to telehealth options.

The calculator converts your no-show reduction into an adjusted visit count:

Here V is monthly telehealth visits per clinic, and r is the no-show reduction (for example, 0.20 for 20%). Monthly revenue per clinic is:

Monthly Telehealth Revenue = Adjusted Visits × Average Reimbursement

3. Operating cost impact and net cash flow

Telehealth programs usually add some ongoing cost, which you enter as:

• Additional Operating Cost per Month: staffing, software subscriptions, maintenance, and support directly tied to telehealth.

Net monthly cash flow per clinic is then:

Net Monthly Cash Flow = Monthly Telehealth Revenue − Additional Operating Cost

The model converts this to annual cash flow, scales to the number of clinics, and discounts future years using your Discount Rate (%) and Analysis Period (years) to estimate NPV.

Community value and patient travel savings

Many patriotic and faith-based organizations care as much about access and family stability as they do about pure financial return. The calculator accounts for these effects using two inputs:

• Patient Travel Savings per Visit ($): average direct savings for the patient household, such as fuel, lodging, parking, or lost wages from time off work.
• Community Value Multiplier: a factor (for example, 1.1 or 1.3) that scales travel savings to reflect broader benefits such as caregiver time, homeschooling flexibility, veteran peer support, or reduced emergency use.

The calculator estimates total community value as:

Community Value = Adjusted Visits × Clinics × Travel Savings per Visit × Community Value Multiplier × Years

This is reported as a non-cash benefit. It should not be combined directly with financial NPV, but it gives boards and donors a clearer sense of the real-world impact on families and veterans.

How to interpret the results

After entering your assumptions, review three key outputs:

• Net Capital Investment: total dollars required up front after grants. This informs fundraising needs and grant applications.
• Annual Net Cash Flow: how much the program is expected to add (or subtract) from your operating budget each year once fully ramped.
• Net Present Value (NPV): the present value of future net cash flows over the analysis period, minus capital. Positive NPV suggests the project is financially attractive under your assumptions.
• Total Patient and Community Benefit: estimated cumulative patient travel savings and community value over the analysis horizon.

Boards and leadership teams often:

• Use NPV and annual cash flow to compare telehealth with other capital projects, such as new exam rooms or imaging equipment.
• Use community value and travel savings to demonstrate impact for patriotic donors, state legislators, or veteran advocacy groups.
• Run multiple versions of the model (for example, conservative, base, and optimistic) to see how sensitive results are to reimbursement or volume changes.

Worked example: multi-clinic patriotic telehealth network

Consider a network of four rural clinics that serve veterans and young families. Each clinic plans to invest in telehealth carts and broadband:

• Clinics Adding Telehealth: 4
• Capital Cost per Clinic: $65,000
• Broadband Upgrade Cost per Clinic: $12,000
• Grant Support per Clinic: $20,000
• Additional Telehealth Visits per Month (per clinic): 220
• Average Reimbursement per Visit: $95
• No-show Reduction: 25%
• Patient Travel Savings per Visit: $38
• Additional Operating Cost per Month: $6,000
• Analysis Period: 5 years
• Discount Rate: 5%
• Community Value Multiplier: 1.1

Under these assumptions, the model shows net capital around $228,000 for the network, annual net cash flow in the mid six figures, and a five-year NPV above $1.6 million. Patient travel savings exceed $400,000 once community value is considered, reflecting thousands of avoided long drives for prenatal consults, behavioral health follow-ups, and chronic care check-ins.

Scenario comparison: single clinic vs. network rollout

The table below illustrates how scaling from a single clinic pilot to a small network can change the economics. Values are approximate and for illustration only; your results will be driven by your own inputs.

As you adjust the inputs, pay special attention to how changes in no-show reduction, reimbursement per visit, and the community value multiplier shift both NPV and the broader impact story you can tell to supporters.

Key assumptions and limitations

• Capital vs. operating costs: The model assumes equipment and broadband upgrades are one-time capital items. Any recurring fees should be entered under additional operating costs, not capital.
• No-show reduction: No-show improvement is applied as a simple percentage increase to effective visits. Real-world scheduling dynamics may be more complex.
• Stable reimbursement: Reimbursement per visit is treated as constant over the analysis period. Payer policies and telehealth waivers can change; always confirm current contracts.
• Travel savings estimates: Travel savings are averages and will vary by patient. Use local mileage, wage, and parking data where possible.
• Community value multiplier: This factor is subjective and intended to reflect non-monetary benefits. It should be used for storytelling and prioritization, not for audited financial statements.
• Capacity and staffing: The calculator assumes you can staff additional telehealth volume. It does not model shortages, credentialing delays, or training needs.
• Directional, not advisory: Results are planning estimates. They do not replace formal financial modeling, legal review, or clinical risk assessment. Use them to frame conversations with finance, legal, and clinical leadership.

For deeper planning, consider pairing this calculator with your internal budget models or consulting a healthcare finance expert to validate your assumptions for grants, bond offerings, or major capital decisions.