Trends & Tips for Diversifying Funding Streams:

A Closer Look at Healthcare, Independent Living, Aging, Vocational Rehabilitation, Veterans, and/or Public Education Collaborations

Joy Kniskern, Pass It On CenterChris Brand, FODACCathy Valdez, Project MendHelen Baker, STAR Program

Learn three tips to leverage funding for your reuse program.

Identify the components of the Calculation of an Approximate Value of Investment in Assistive Technology Reuse (CAVIAR) as a tool to calculate costs, benefits and ROI for AT reuse programs.

Learn how two programs – FODAC and Project Mend diversified their funding to strengthen and expand services.

Learn marketing tips and strategies from Alabama’s STAR Program.

Three tips for leveraging funds for reuse:

Know the pain points of your state partners concerning DME and AT

Build your business case for Return on Investment (ROI) for your reuse program

Use the data to tell your story, tell it well, and tell it.

CAVIAR: An ROI Tool toPromote Funding of AT Reuse

Programs

Joy Kniskern, Pass It On CenterAugust 31, 2015

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Moving beyond anecdotal evidence to make the business case for reuse

•The beginning: tracking volumes and equipment values•Adding business analysis: return on investment (ROI)•Considering the value of avoided outcomes•Calculating societal impacts•Working toward a more comprehensive calculation

BASIC: Reuse programs track Number of usable devices donated Value of donated devices based on MSRP or some

percentage thereof Number of devices reassigned Number of individuals served Value of reassigned AT

Most helpful tool: a good inventory system with flexible reporting capabilities (Kansas, Paraquad, Project MEND and others)

Using business analysis

Kansas led the way in recommending that programs apply a standard business practice and calculate Return on Investment.

This calculation requires only the total program expenses and the value of equipment made available for reuse.

Calculation:Divide NET value (value of reused equipment minus total program expenses) by expenses to derive return percentage or return for each dollar invested.

Example of simple ROI…..

Application of business model of return-on-investment analysis to Kansas AT reuse program in 2010:ROI: (Value of donated equipment minus program expenses) divided by program expenses

Example: $960,004 - $271,487 = $668,517 divided by $271,487 = 2.46 or a return of $2.46 for each dollar invested

ROI is a useful tool for:

1.Making program decisions: pickup and delivery, shipping, collection drives, methods of cleaning and sanitization (volunteers, paid

staff, contractor, purchase of sanitizing equipment)

2.Measuring the impact of the use of taxes, public and private donations, and foundation support for reuse.

• Volume tracking (donations, devices assigned, value of donated devices) – AT Act Programs

• Use of business tools, from cost-benefit to ROI analysis (Kansas)

• Calculation of avoided costs (e.g., lost work time avoided, healthcare expenses avoided, environmental impact minimized) based on customer follow-up: FREE Foundation/VATS

• Combining those and more to identify a more accurate calculation of the financial impact of reuse

We need to show the real value of AT reuse!

Proposing a more comprehensive calculation of value

CAVIAR1. Sum values2. Subtract

program expenses

3. Divide result by program expenses

Improved ROI

KS: ROI VA KS, GA VA PIOC

T

Compiling Values for CAVIAR

Value of Reusable AT Track value of donated AT devices in a standardized

manner (e.g., MSRP or a percentage)

Value of Prevention Use specific healthcare costs for customer population Collect survey data to show avoided expenditures

Compiling Values for CAVIAR

Value of Reusable AT Track value of donated AT devices in a standardized

manner (e.g., MSRP or a percentage)

Value of Prevention Use specific healthcare costs for customer population Collect survey data to show avoided expenditures

Compiling values for CAVIAR, cont.’

Value of Environmental Impact Savings Track the weight (use some standard tables for simplicity

and ease of calculation) of AT diverted from landfill (that is, reused)

Determine cost (per ton) of landfill disposal in program area

Economic Value of Work Determine number of lost work days avoided Use minimum wage for the state or use federal poverty

guideline to be conservative

Identifying avoidable societal impact

What other costs does reuse of AT avoid? Lost income due to missed work for customer or

caregiver Landfill costs for disposal

Calculating Environmental Impact

•Determine average weight of items kept from landfills

•Identify landfill costs in your area

•Calculate savings for tonnage kept from landfills

•Add the landfill savings to the value

Original ROI

Using only the value of the donated equipment:

FY 2011 data resulted in a Return on Investment (ROI) of $3.49 for each dollar invested.

Adding conservativeavoided healthcare costsFor FY 2011, assuming that only one percent of Kansans who received DME delayed or avoided a move to assisted living (versus 8% in found in Virginia), the ROI increased to $4.13 for every dollar invested.

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Recalculating for Kansas

Analysis of Cost SavingsFor every 100 persons served:26 hospital stays were avoided.

26 (average 5 days x $1,149) = $149,37029 Emergency Room visits were avoided.

29 x $1,896 = $54,98411 moves to skilled nursing facilities were avoided.

11 (average 50 days) x $10,150 = $111,65011 moves to assisted living facilities were avoided.

11 (average stay 50 days) x $4,879 = $53,669112 falls were avoided (1 in 4 falls results in doctor’s visit)

28 x $155 (average cost doctor’s visit ) = $4,34016 family members avoided quitting jobs to stay home and care for recipients.

16 x $5,723 = $91,573

TOTAL SAVINGS FOR EACH 100 PERSONS SERVED: $465,586

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Calculating the costs

Average cost of ER visit = $1,896 Typical doctor’s visit = $155 Average daily cost of hospital stay = $1,149 (Typical stay is five days = $5,745.) Average annual of cost of stay in SNF = $74,095 (Average stay for recovery is 50 days = $10,150.) Average annual cost of stay in ALF = $35,616. (Average stay for recovery is 50 days = $4,879.) Financial impact of a job loss to a family of three at the

poverty level = $17,170.

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Questions?

Joy Kniskern Joy@passitoncenter.orgCarolyn Phillips Carolyn@passitoncenter.org Liz Persaud Liz@passitoncenter.orgTrish Redmon Trish@passitoncenter.org

DISCLAIMERPass It On Center is supported under cooperative agreement #H235V060016 awarded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, and is administered by Tools for Life, Georgia’s Assistive Technology Act Program, a program of AMAC Accessibility Solutions of The Georgia Institute for Technology (Georgia Tech.) However, the contents of this publication do not necessarily represent the policy or opinions of the Department of Education or Georgia Tech, and the reader should not assume endorsements of this document by the Federal government or Georgia Tech.