Recommendation: Approve. Note this investment is partly non-discretionary — CareLink Classic's vendor end-of-support timeline forces a replacement regardless of ROI. This analysis evaluates whether the chosen approach (a full native mobile rebuild vs. a bare like-for-like legacy replacement) is the right level of investment. At full benefit realization, the program produces a positive 7-year NPV of approximately $394,000 at an 8% discount rate — a shorter horizon than an enterprise platform's typical 10-year view, reflecting a consumer mobile app's faster refresh cycle.
Quantified Annual Benefits (Full Realization)
| Category | Annual Value | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Legacy Vendor License Elimination | $340,000 | CareLink Classic (Vantix) annual license retired at cutover |
| Provider Throughput / Visit Capacity Gains | $250,000 | Faster visit setup (~6 min → under 2 min) frees provider capacity |
| Reduced Patient No-Show Rate | $220,000 | Mobile reminders reduce missed appointments |
| Patient Retention / Satisfaction | $180,000 | Mobile-first experience reduces churn to competitor telehealth apps |
| Reduced IT/Help Desk Support Burden | $140,000 | Support tickets: ~410/mo → under 150/mo (see Vision & Roadmap OKRs) |
| TOTAL ANNUAL BENEFIT | $1,130,000 |
Cost Summary
| Category | Amount |
|---|---|
| One-Time Implementation Cost (Year 0) | $1,850,000 |
| Annual Ongoing Cost (Year 1+) | $600,000 / year |
Ongoing cost = PulseConnect Video SDK ($210K) + Cloud Infrastructure ($114K) + Internal Sustainment Team ($220K) + Periodic Enhancements ($56K). Implementation figure is the approved program baseline (see Program Budget) — the final actual closed slightly under this, at $1.81M. Full detail on the Costs Detail tab of the Excel workbook.
7-Year Cash Flow & Payback
| Year | Realization | Net Cash Flow | Cumulative (Undiscounted) | Cumulative (Discounted @ 8%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | — | ($1,850,000) | ($1,850,000) | ($1,850,000) |
| 1 | 60% | $78,000 | ($1,772,000) | ($1,777,778) |
| 2 | 90% | $417,000 | ($1,355,000) | ($1,420,267) |
| 3 | 100% | $530,000 | ($825,000) | ($999,536) |
| 4 | 100% | $530,000 | ($295,000) | ($609,971) |
| 5 | 100% | $530,000 | $235,000 | ($249,261) |
| 6 | 100% | $530,000 | $765,000 | $84,728 |
| 7 | 100% | $530,000 | $1,295,000 | $393,978 |
Undiscounted payback occurs between Year 4 and Year 5. Discounted payback (the more conservative measure) occurs between Year 5 and Year 6 — both well within a mobile app's typical 7-year useful life before a major platform refresh.
How This Relates to the TCO
The Total Cost of Ownership analysis shows that, on raw cost alone, this platform's 7-year TCO ($6.05M) is higher than simply continuing to pay for CareLink Classic ($2.38M) — TCO does not justify modernization by itself, and in any case isn't a real long-term option given Vantix's announced end-of-support. This Cost-Benefit Analysis is what closes that gap for the specific investment level chosen: the quantified provider-capacity, retention, and support-cost benefits above ($1.13M/year at full realization) more than offset the incremental cost, producing a positive NPV. Read TCO and CBA together — TCO answers "what will this cost," CBA answers "is it worth it."