[Dictionary] Cost-Effectiveness Analysis (CEA)

Cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) is a method of economic evaluation that compares two or more health interventions by dividing the difference in their cost by the difference in their health outcome, where that outcome is measured in a single natural clinical unit -- a life-year gained, a case of disease averted, a point of blood pressure reduced -- rather than a generic utility measure. The result is an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) expressed as cost per unit of that outcome achieved, which a health technology assessment (HTA) body then weighs against a cost-effectiveness threshold to judge value for money.