healtheconomics.wikiInteractive explorer · ASSET-HE-EE-CEA-012-001

Cost-Effectiveness Plane Explorer

Change incremental cost, incremental effect and the decision threshold. The explorer classifies the quadrant before interpreting a ratio.

Scenario inputs

Intervention cost minus comparator cost
Intervention outcome minus comparator outcome

Try a position on the plane

Explore the plane: Try each scenario. Then change one input and explain why the decision changes—or remains the same.

Safeguard: A negative ICER is ambiguous until the quadrant is known. An ICER is undefined when ΔE is zero.

Result

QuadrantNortheast
ICER£13,333/QALY
INMB£2,000
Cost-effectiveness planeFour quadrants with incremental effect on the horizontal axis and incremental cost on the vertical axis. A movable point shows the current scenario. NorthwestMore costly · Less effectiveDominated NortheastMore costly · More effectiveThreshold trade-off SouthwestLess costly · Less effectiveThreshold trade-off SoutheastLess costly · More effectiveDominant INMB = 0 line Current scenario More effective →← Less effectiveMore costly ↑↓ Less costly
Incremental cost
Incremental effect
Threshold
Decision result

Method, assumptions and boundaries

ICER = ΔC ÷ ΔE and INMB = (λ × ΔE) − ΔC. The example uses pounds and QALYs solely to make the calculation concrete. It assumes the alternatives are comparable and that the stated costs and effects are expected values.

How to read the decision

Dominance is determined by the joint direction of costs and effects. In trade-off quadrants, positive INMB favours the intervention at the stated threshold; negative INMB favours the comparator. Zero means equal expected net monetary benefit, subject to rounding.

What the explorer does not decide

It does not establish affordability, equity, feasibility, evidence quality or a universally appropriate threshold. It does not calculate the probability of cost-effectiveness.

Evidence and originality

Methodological interpretation is informed by NICE economic-evaluation guidance, WHO economic-analysis resources, CHEERS 2022 and standard health-economic methods. The interface, explanatory text, interaction design and synthetic example were created from scratch for HealthEconomics.wiki. No external graphics, datasets, fonts or code libraries are used.