Extended Cost-Effectiveness Analysis (ECEA)
Extended Cost-Effectiveness Analysis (ECEA) is a method that helps evaluate health policies by looking at not only health benefits but also financial protection, total costs, and how fairly benefits are distributed across people.
At a glance
Use when
Assessing public health policies with potential financial protection or equity impacts, especially in low- and middle-income countries
Avoid when
Data on household costs or equity dimensions are unavailable or unreliable; when only clinical effectiveness or short-term outcomes are of interest
Inputs
Health intervention data, epidemiological models, cost data, household financial data, and equity stratifiers (e.g., income groups)
Outputs
Estimates of health gains (e.g., deaths averted), financial risk protection (e.g., cases of impoverishment avoided), total policy costs, and distributional impacts across population subgroups
How it works
ECEA extends traditional cost-effectiveness analysis by quantifying health gains, financial risk protection, total policy costs, and distributional impacts of public health interventions, particularly in low- and middle-income settings. It integrates health outcomes with economic and equity dimensions to support comprehensive health policy assessment.
- HTA domains
- Costs & Economic Evaluation, Patient and Social Aspects, Aspects Beyond HTA
- Assumptions
- Health interventions lead to measurable health and financial outcomes; household financial data reflect risk of impoverishment; policy implementation is feasible and coverage can be modeled; equity impacts can be captured through stratified analysis
- Strengths
- Integrates health and financial outcomes; highlights equity implications; useful for priority-setting in resource-limited settings; supports universal health coverage goals
- Limitations
- Requires detailed household and cost data; complex to implement without technical expertise; less standardized than traditional CEA; distributional analysis depends on data quality and stratification methods
- Also known as
- ECEA
Questions this answers
- › What are the health benefits of a public health policy?
- › How does the policy protect people from financial hardship due to illness?
- › What are the total costs of implementing the policy for decision-makers?
- › How are health benefits distributed across different population groups?
- › Does the policy contribute to health equity?
- › What trade-offs exist between health gains and financial protection?
References & sources
Similar by meaning
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