Explanatory Notes for the 2012-13 NWAU Calculators
Overview
This document has been produced as an accompaniment to the Excel Macro-Enabled Workbooks
that calculate 2012-13 National Weighted Activity Unit (NWAU) values for public hospital activity
data (the NWAU calculators). The NWAU calculators are to be used for indicative purposes only,
and further validation should be carried out to ensure accuracy of NWAU values.
NWAU calculators are provided for each activity stream and classification. These are:
1.
For acute admitted services:
Excel Macro-Enabled Workbook – NWAU(12) calculator for acute admitted activity.xlsm
Excel Macro-Enabled Workbook – NWAU(12) calculator for acute admitted activity (Excel 97-2003).xls
2.
For non-admitted outpatient services:
Excel Macro-Enabled Workbook – NWAU(12) calculator for non-admitted activity.xlsm
Excel Macro-Enabled Workbook – NWAU(12) calculator for non-admitted activity (Excel 97-2003).xls
3.
For Emergency Department (ED) services:
a. Urgency Disposition Groups (UDG)
Excel Macro-Enabled Workbook – NWAU(12) calculator for ED UDG activity.xlsm
Excel Macro-Enabled Workbook – NWAU(12) calculator for ED UDG activity (Excel 97-2003).xls
b. Urgency Related Groups (URG)
Excel Macro-Enabled Workbook – NWAU(12) calculator for ED URG activity.xlsm
Excel Macro-Enabled Workbook – NWAU(12) calculator for ED URG activity (Excel 97-2003).xls
The NWAU calculators require Excel 2010 or Excel 2007. However, a second version for each
calculator is designed for Excel 97 or Excel 2003, but also works in Excel 2007 and Excel 2010. The
Excel 97-2003 versions only allow for up to 65,536 rows of data, whereas the Excel 2010 versions
allow for up to 1,048,576 rows of data.
Once the appropriate version of the NWAU calculator has been selected, double click the file to
launch it. Macros must be enabled within Excel for the calculator to work.
There are two components to each NWAU calculator: an input data validation tool, and the NWAU
calculator. Instructions are provided in the Excel workbooks to guide the user through the steps
required to input and validate activity data, and run the NWAU calculator. The validation tool and
NWAU calculator take a total of approximately 1 minute 30 seconds per 100,000 rows of activity
data, depending on the performance of the computer. Large volumes of data may take more time
to process, and the calculator may appear to stall during this time. Excel’s CPU usage may be
monitored during this process to ensure the calculator is still functioning. To terminate the
calculator before conclusion, press Ctrl-Pause/Break.
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The data validation tool displays messages during its execution. The user should take note of any
messages to ensure NWAU values are calculated correctly.
For use of the calculator on slower computers, consider splitting activity data into smaller blocks
and calculating NWAU values in stages.
Using the NWAU calculator
Once launched in Excel, the NWAU calculator should display two worksheet tabs. These are:
1. Data Input. Contains instructions to input data and calculate NWAU values.
2. Variable definitions. Sets out the data input specifications.
Using these two worksheets as a reference, data will need to be prepared and correctly formatted
before copying and pasting it into the Data Input worksheet to ensure NWAU values are calculated
correctly.
There are a number of reference worksheets that are hidden to ensure the calculator is easy to
use. The calculator links the input data with the reference worksheets to calculate NWAU values.
Information contained in these worksheets can be found in the National Efficient Price
Determination 2012-13 and supporting documentation.
Once the data has been copied and pasted into the appropriate fields in the Data Input sheet, the
NWAU calculator can be launched by clicking on the button labeled “Click here to calculate
NWAU”.
There are two Excel macro modules to the NWAU calculator. The first is an input data validation
module and the second is an NWAU calculation module. The user is given the choice of running
the validation tool first or proceeding directly to the calculation of NWAU values. Once the NWAU
calculator has been successfully run, NWAU(12) values will appear next to the input data.
For further technical information on the calculation of NWAU values for public hospital services
please refer to National Pricing Model Technical Specification 2012-2013.
Contact
Please send enquiries relating to NWAU calculations to enquiries.ihpa@ihpa.gov.au.
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