Waves Consulting launches free analysis tools for health systems

Waves Consulting is offering two self-service tools at no cost through Dec. 31, bringing specialty pharmacy margin analysis and call-center staffing planning directly to health systems and pharmacy teams nationwide. The company says the tools are designed to replace consulting work that often costs hundreds of thousands of dollars while keeping user data private.

Why it matters: - Health systems and pharmacy teams can now run core financial and operational analysis without paying a consulting firm. - The move could help smaller or resource-constrained teams make faster decisions on specialty drug profitability and call-center staffing. - Waves is offering the tools free through Dec. 31, lowering the barrier to analysis that can shape revenue and patient access.

What happened: - Waves Consulting released two self-service tools to the public at no charge. - The tools are a specialty drug margin calculator and a call-center staffing planner. - Both tools are live at wavesconsulting.com and free to use through the end of the year. - The release was announced Sept. 21, 2026, from Venice, Florida.

The details: - The specialty drug margin calculator lets users enter pricing, cost and volume data. - The calculator returns a profitability breakdown by drug. - Waves says the analysis mirrors work that has traditionally been delivered through paid consulting engagements. - The company says that kind of consulting work can carry a price tag in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. - The call-center staffing planner uses expected call volume, hours of operation and service goals. - The planner maps coverage hour by hour and flags where more staff are needed. - The planner also shows how many staff are needed. - Neither tool requires users to hand over underlying data to Waves. - User inputs stay with the person using the tool, and the outputs stay with that user. - Nathan Thompson, a co-founder of Waves and a former Johns Hopkins pharmacy executive, said the goal is to help teams that lack the time, budget or bandwidth for outside analysis. - Chris Corbett, who spent more than 20 years in finance and analytics roles inside major health systems, built the calculator for Waves. - Corbett said the new tool can reduce analysis time from days to minutes. - Thompson said the staffing tool can help teams determine the number of phone lines needed in just a few minutes.

Between the lines: - Waves is turning consulting expertise into a self-serve product, which could widen access to specialized analysis across the health system market. - The data-privacy design may matter to health systems that are cautious about sharing operational and financial information with vendors. - Free access through year-end may also help Waves build adoption before expanding the product library.

What's next: - Waves says additional tools are in development. - The company plans to expand its library in the months ahead. - Users can sign up at wavesconsulting.com to hear about future releases.

The bottom line: - Waves is betting that health systems will use free digital tools to get consulting-grade answers faster, cheaper and without sharing sensitive data.