kustannusvaikutuslaskennan

Kustannusvaikutuslaskenta, often translated as cost-effectiveness analysis, is an economic evaluation technique used to compare the costs and health outcomes of different interventions, such as healthcare treatments or public health programs. The goal is to determine which intervention provides the best value for money. It quantifies the costs associated with each intervention and measures the health effects achieved, typically in terms of a common unit like life-years gained or cases of disease prevented.

In practice, cost-effectiveness analysis involves identifying all relevant costs, including direct medical costs, indirect costs like lost productivity, and sometimes intangible costs. The health outcomes are also meticulously measured. The result is usually expressed as an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER), which represents the additional cost per additional unit of health outcome gained by choosing one intervention over another. For example, an ICER might be expressed as "$20,000 per life-year gained."

This type of analysis is a crucial tool for decision-makers in healthcare and public policy. It helps allocate limited resources efficiently by identifying interventions that offer the greatest health benefits for a given expenditure. Thresholds are often established, indicating the maximum ICER that a decision-maker is willing to accept. Interventions with ICERs below this threshold are generally considered cost-effective. However, it's important to note that cost-effectiveness analysis focuses solely on economic efficiency and does not inherently account for equity or other social values.