Cost-Effectiveness Thresholds: Pros and Cons
2016
This WHO bulletin compares the two main methods for comparing the cost-effectiveness of health interventions. Cost-effectiveness thresholds allow health decision makers to identify cost-effectiveness ratios that represent good or bad value for money. In 2001, the World Health Organization's Commission on Macroeconomics in Health suggested cost-effectiveness thresholds based on multiples of a country's per-capita gross domestic product (GDP). In some contexts, these thresholds have been used as decision rules. However, this approach lacks country specificity and this can lead to the wrong decision. An alternative is the use of the opportunity cost of health interventions. The authors argue that cost-effectiveness information should be used alongside other considerations - e.g. budget impact and feasibility considerations - in a transparent decision-making process, rather than in isolation based on a single threshold value.
Cost-Effectiveness Thresholds: Pros and Cons
Source:
Bertram MY, Lauer JA, De Joncheere K et al. Cost-Effectiveness Thresholds: Pros and Cons. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 2016; 94: 925-930. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5153921