Cost-effectiveness frontier

The cost-effectiveness frontier is the line that connects successive points on a cost-effectiveness plane, where each point represents the cost and effect of different treatment alternatives. The gradient of a line segment between two points on the frontier represents the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of the treatment comparison between the two alternatives. The frontier itself consists of the set of points corresponding to treatment alternatives that are considered cost-effective for different cost-effectiveness threshold values. A steeper gradient between successive points indicates a higher ICER, meaning the more expensive alternative is only cost-effective at higher threshold values. Treatment alternatives not on the frontier (typically above and to the left) are not considered cost effective compared with an alternative on the frontier, regardless of the threshold.