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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2013 Jul 18.
Published in final edited form as: Calcif Tissue Int. 2013 Mar 21;93(1):1–14. doi: 10.1007/s00223-013-9724-8

Figure 1.

Figure 1

Cost-effectiveness plane.

The difference in QALYs between intervention A and comparator O is represented on the horizontal axis, and the difference in cost on the vertical axis. The slope of the line between intervention A and comparator O is the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER). If A is located in quadrants II or IV, intervention A is dominant (more effective and less costly than comparator O), in quadrant IV, intervention A is less effective and more costly than O. In quadrants I intervention A is more effective but more costly and in III less effective and less costly. The choice will depend on the cost-effectiveness threshold that represents the maximum amount the decision-maker is willing to pay for a unit of effectiveness. Interventions that fall below the cost-effective threshold would be deemed cost-effective.