This information is for reference purposes only. It was current when produced and may now be outdated. Archive material is no longer maintained, and some links may not work. Persons with disabilities having difficulty accessing this information should contact us at: https://info.ahrq.gov. Let us know the nature of the problem, the Web address of what you want, and your contact information.
Please go to www.ahrq.gov for current information.
Contents
About the Calculator
Information Needed To Use the Calculator
Getting Started with the Calculator
Navigating the Calculator
About
the Calculator
The diabetes
cost calculator was developed in response to a request from members of the
Mid-Atlantic Business Group on Health for a tool that would allow its employers
to demonstrate the potential savings that could be realized with improvements
in diabetes care. The calculator provides estimates of an employer's current
diabetes-related medical costs and costs due to lost productivity. The
calculator also projects potential savings associated with improvements in hemoglobin
A1c (HbA1c), a key measure of diabetes control, among the organization's
employees and dependents who have diabetes. (HbA1c levels indicate how successfully patients
are managing their diabetes, with lower levels indicating greater success.)
Activating
Text-to-Speech Function for Users with Visual Impairments
|
Users
with visual impairment may activate the calculator's text-to-speech
function. To turn on text-to-speech, press Ctrl-Shift-s from the Welcome
screen of the calculator. The keyboard shortcuts that users can activate
from the Welcome screen follow:
Ctrl-Shift-s turns the
text-to-speech on and off.
Ctrl-Shift-c starts a scenario
(equivalent to clicking "1 run scenario").
Ctrl-Shift-r shows results
(equivalent to clicking "2 View Results").
Ctrl-Shift-a shows additional data
(equivalent to clicking "3 View Additional Data").
|
Return to Contents
Information
Needed To Use the Calculator
In
order to provide more precise estimates for individual employers, the
calculator requires employers to enter basic information about their
organizations. The information that you will need to have to use the
calculator is listed below.
The following are required inputs to the
calculator:
- State. If your
organization operates in more than one State, you will need to create a separate
scenario for each State.
- Industry. Choose from the
drop-down menu the industry category that is the best match for your
organization.
- Number
of employees by age group:
- #
employees ages 18-44.
- #
employees ages 45-64.
- # employees age 65 and over.
- Sick
leave policy.
To estimate costs of employees being absent from work due to illness
(i.e., absenteeism), the calculator will ask if your employer provides
paid sick leave.
In
addition to the four items listed above, the calculator will allow you to enter
other information about your organization if you have it. If you have this
information, the estimates that the calculator produces will be more precise
for your organization. However, if you do not have this information, the
calculator will use default data based on your location, industry, and firm
size.
The following are optional inputs in the
calculator:
- Number
of covered lives with diabetes.
- HbA1c
levels of covered lives with diabetes.
- Average
hourly wage by age group.
- Percentage
of employees who select family medical coverage.
- Total
number of covered children or average number of children per employee with
family medical coverage.
- Percentage
of minority employees.
- Percentage
of female employees.
Return to Contents
Getting
Started with the Calculator
1. Check your security
settings in Excel. The
calculator is powered by macros, which means you may need to modify your
security settings in Excel® to allow the macros to operate. From the toolbar in
Excel, go to Tools > Macro > Security > Security Level. On the
Security Level tab, select a security level of Medium (Figure below).
Note: The calculator was
developed in Microsoft Excel® and operates with a Visual Basic interface.
Because the calculator is in Excel, it may not function for a user who does not
operate in a Microsoft environment.
2. Tell Excel® to trust access
to Visual Basic Project. From
the toolbar in Excel, go to Tools > Macro > Security > Trusted
Publishers. On the Trusted Publishers tab, be sure that the box next to "Trust
access to Visual Basic Project" is checked.
3. Save
the calculator and report templates to your desktop or to a file folder. Before you start working
in the calculator, save the calculator and the three report templates to your desktop
or a file folder. Any reports generated from the calculator will be saved to
the same location. If the calculator and the reports are not saved to the desktop or a file
folder, the company-specific reports generated by the calculator will not save
correctly. Note that the report templates must be named as follows:
Note: At this time it is necessary to use Word® files for certain features of the calculator to work properly. HTML versions of each Word® file are provided. The HTML version includes field codes that indicate data that the calculator will use for the required output. Each of these field codes is followed by a description of the data required so that a user can manually enter data when using the HTML version.
4. Go
to the Welcome Tab.
When you open the Excel® file, it should automatically take you to the Welcome tab,
from which you enter the calculator. If it does not take you to this tab
automatically, you can switch to this tab by clicking on the Welcome tab at the
bottom left corner of the screen. To enter the calculator, select Run
Scenario.
5. Choose
Run Scenario. The
calculator will ask you if you want to Create A New Scenario or Load Scenario.
If this is your first time using the calculator, choose Create A New
Scenario. You can save any of the scenarios that you enter into the
calculator and return to them at any time.
Return to Contents
Navigating the Calculator
After
you get through the pages with the required and optional user inputs described
earlier, you will be asked to choose between two approaches to modeling costs and
savings:
- If
you select Choose Goal, you can use the calculator to
estimate the impact of improvements in diabetes control (as measured by
blood glucose control) regardless of the intervention used to achieve the
improvements. You can choose one of two options: (1) reduce the average
HbA1c level of a population with diabetes, or (2) shift a portion of a
population with diabetes below a target HbA1c level.
- If
you select Choose Intervention, you can select from five interventions
that have been found to lead to improvements in diabetes control. If you
know the estimated costs of the intervention you select, you can enter
that as well. If intervention costs are entered, the calculator will
provide a net savings that includes the cost of the intervention. Note
that you cannot select more than one intervention at a time.
Calculator
Outputs
The
calculator yields several outputs that are available in different formats. After
you choose an approach and an intervention or goal, the calculator will automatically
take you to a Results page that summarizes key outputs of the calculator,
such as estimates of:
- Number
of employees and dependents with diabetes.
- Medical
and indirect costs associated with diabetes.
- Potential
medical and indirect savings associated with improvements in diabetes
control.
From
this page, you can link to a number of charts and graphs with additional
information that may be useful in interpreting the calculator results. The
page also has a link to an Executive Summary that presents your results
in a brief narrative document.
Assumptions
and Sources
Throughout
the calculator there are help buttons that provide definitions, assumptions,
and sources. There is also an Assumptions and Sources Tab in the
calculator, where you can find additional information about the calculator's
methodology and the evidence on which it is based. Wherever possible,
citations to the original source are provided for users who would like more information.
Return to Contents
Current as of November 2008
5600 Fishers Lane Rockville, MD 20857