Which metric is commonly used to translate health outcomes into monetary terms?

• A. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratio
• B. Net monetary benefit
• C. Quality-Adjusted Life Year
• D. Disability-adjusted Life Year

Answer: (B)

Translating health outcomes into money uses a willingness-to-pay approach, turning the health gains into a monetary value and comparing it directly with costs. The net monetary benefit does this explicitly: it multiplies the health effect by a chosen willingness-to-pay per unit of health (for example, per QALY gained), then subtracts the costs. If the net monetary benefit is positive at a given threshold, the option is considered cost-effective at that threshold. This makes comparisons straightforward and supports statistical testing, since you’re working with a single monetary metric rather than a ratio.

For instance, with a willingness-to-pay of 50,000 per QALY and a health gain of 0.5 QALYs, the value of the health benefit is 25,000. If the incremental cost is 20,000, the net monetary benefit is 5,000, indicating the option provides net value at that threshold. QALYs and DALYs measure health outcomes themselves but do not express them in monetary terms, while an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio is a ratio of cost to effect and does not directly present value in money.