Cost-effectiveness plane ($(\Delta E,\Delta C)$)

The cost-effectiveness plane plots an effect increment horizontally and a cost increment vertically. The southeast quadrant represents greater effectiveness at lower cost, while the northwest quadrant represents lower effectiveness at greater cost. A threshold $\lambda$ corresponds to the line $\Delta C=\lambda \Delta E$; points below the line have positive incremental net monetary benefit, in every quadrant. A joint confidence region or paired bootstrap cloud reveals uncertainty and preserves the dependence between cost and effect estimates.