Distributional Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Online Course

A course focusing on methods for analysing the equity impacts of health programmes and trade-offs with cost-effectiveness.

This is an online course focusing on methods for analysing equity in the distribution of health programme costs and effects and trade-offs between equity and cost-effectiveness. The course is aimed at health economists and health professionals with experience of health economic evaluation, who wish to learn how to use more specialised methods for analysing distributional equity impacts and trade-offs. It is designed for participants who are familiar with standard methods of cost-effectiveness analysis, for example those who have already attended our short courses in Decision Modelling for Health Economic Evaluation. It is envisaged that participants will currently be undertaking cost-effectiveness analysis, or planning to do so in the near future.

There are two ways in which students can take this course:

1. By attending the course "live". Materials are released once per week and students complete the lectures and exercises on the course platform in their own time, then attend a weekly live Q&A session with tutors and faculty via Zoom and can interact with other students, tutors and faculty via online discussion boards. Click below to find out when the next live course is scheduled for and sign up.

Course dates in 2026: Monday 19 Oct to Friday 20 Nov 2026, with live sessions on Thursdays 1-2pm (UK time).

Learn more and sign up to the live course

2. By following the course “on demand”, which is available immediately. The content is the same as for the live course, but the course is in an unsupported “self-study” format with no tutor and faculty support or interaction with other students, and is aimed at those that wish to start straight away, are unable to make the live course dates, or are in a time zone that makes participating in live sessions difficult. Students gain 2 months’ access from the point of enrolment and work through the content in their own time. Click below to find out more and sign up.

Learn more and sign up to the on demand course

Objectives

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

Understand and explain the basic concepts of distributional cost-effectiveness analysis (DCEA)
Design a full or simplified DCEA study that provides useful information about the direction and magnitude of health equity impact in a specific decision-making context
Estimate distributions of health effects and health opportunity costs by adapting a standard cost-effectiveness model – either themselves or in collaboration with others
Calculate suitable summary measures of health inequality impact
Analyse trade-offs between reducing health inequality and cost-effectiveness
Communicate DCEA findings clearly, by producing suitably designed figures and tables and explaining to decision makers what they mean

Prerequisites

This is a technical course for analysts, focusing specifically on the design, conduct and reporting of distributional cost-effectiveness analysis studies capable of providing decision makers with useful quantitative information about health equity impacts and trade-offs. Participants would be expected to have attended a general advanced course in health economic evaluation, and to be familiar with foundations level decision analysis (see Foundations Online Course in Decision Analytic Modelling for Health Economic Evaluation). Modules 2, 3 and 4 will involve computer work on exercises which will be built up over the course. Familiarity with Microsoft Excel is essential, and familiarity with algebra is desirable.

Faculty

Richard Cookson - Course Lead
Susan Griffin - Course Co-Lead
Ole Norheim - course Co-Lead
James Koh - course Co-Lead
Chris Lübker - Tutor
Shrathinth Venkatesh - Tutor
Zaheen Umar - Tutor

Learn more about the leads and tutors.