Estimating return on investment for HealthPathways across health systems
This 2024 white paper presents an economic model to help HealthPathways network members understand the financial value of their programme. It estimates potential savings and demonstrates how sustained investment can deliver significant returns for health systems.
KEY INSIGHTS
- High return on investment - The model suggests a potential return of $9.76 for every $1 invested in HealthPathways.
- Significant cost savings - Savings are driven by reduced unnecessary referrals, improved referral quality, and better patient flow.
- Improved efficiency across the system - HealthPathways supports timely, appropriate care, reducing duplication and delays.
- Value aligned with strategic priorities - The economic benefits reinforce HealthPathways’ role in achieving health system goals such as equity, integration, and sustainability.
What the economic analysis reveals
This independent economic modelling white paper offers strong evidence that HealthPathways delivers substantial value for modern health systems. Commissioned in 2024, the paper demonstrates not only the financial return on investment (ROI) but also the broader system benefits that emerge when care pathways are used to guide clinical decision-making at scale. The analysis adapts real-world evidence from England, Wales, Australia, and New Zealand to create a robust economic model for a hypothetical OECD country of five millionpeople.
A comprehensive approach to measuring system value
To understand HealthPathways’ economic impact, researchers combined global case studies with locally relevant cost and service data. The model incorporated population growth, disease trends, care utilisation patterns, and the full operational cost of HealthPathways - including establishment, maintenance, and workforce time. Critically, it focused only on areas where there is strong existing evidence of measurable system impact, making the results intentionally conservative. The result is a clear, repeatable method for estimating economicvalue that health systems can adapt to their own contexts.
A significant return on investment
Across five years, the economic model shows an average net saving of $442.92 million - a substantial return for a country of five million people. This equates to an 876% ROI, or $9.76 returned for every $1 invested in HealthPathways implementation.
These figures reflect only the measurable monetary benefits - primarily reductions in unnecessary investigations, avoidable specialist referrals, and improved capacity use. The true value is likely higher, as the model excludes several unmeasured categories of impact.
The benefits beyond the balance sheet
The report highlights a range of non‑monetary system improvements, including:
- Enhanced clinician and patient experience
- Strengthened cross sector relationships
- Increased trust and consistency across local health services
- Support for developing a learning health system culture.
These improvements, while not modelled financially, are considered essential enablers for long term, systemwide gains.
Laying the groundwork for future evaluations
Members of the HealthPathways network are already collaborating on pathway development. We encourage greater collaboration on the methodology and research needed to build a more comprehensive model of the economic value of HealthPathways, and share this white paper as a starting point for this discussion.
Want to explore how HealthPathways can support your health system? Get in touch.
