What is cost-effectiveness analysis?

Med J Aust · 1990

other · Level V

Where this comes from

Abstract

The treatment of mild-to-moderate hypertension is used to illustrate the role of cost-effectiveness analysis in assessing the economic efficiency of pharmacological interventions. The reasons why it is important to consider economic efficiency are discussed, after which the major issues involved in conducting a cost-effectiveness analysis are outlined. Attention is focused on the relative merits of measuring benefits in terms of intermediate and final outcome indicators, and the concept of marginal cost-effectiveness analysis is introduced. Although some difficulties arise, cost-effectiveness analysis is a potentially powerful guide for decisions about the allocation of scarce resources.