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Patrick G. O’Malley, MD, MPH

Arch Intern Med. 2009;169(3):235-236.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Cost-effectiveness is getting more attention these days, and the burgeoning number of publications on this subject as well as the increased attention to medical accountability in terms of effectiveness and cost make it important that we all understand how to interpret cost-effectiveness analyses. This is easier said than done because reading the literature on cost-effectiveness is like navigating through the Tower of Babel.

Cost-effectiveness boils down to value for money. Some interventions may be very expensive but well worth it (eg, bypass grafting in patients with 3-vessel obstructive coronary artery disease and depressed left ventricle function), whereas others may be cheap but wasteful because they simply do not work (eg, taking vitamin E for the prevention of coronary artery disease). In mathematical terms, the key quotient is the incremental cost per incremental clinical benefit ( cost/ life expectancy or preferably quality-adjusted life expectancy; ie, comparing . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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