Dictionary
The Dictionary provides concise definitions of health economics terms, arranged alphabetically for quick reference. Use it to understand unfamiliar terminology or confirm the meaning of a specific term.
C
- Central TendencyTermCentral Location, Location Statistic
- A summary statistic describing a dataset's typical or central value, most commonly represented by the mean, median, or mode.
- Centralized SystemTermCentralised System, Centralized Health System
- A health system structure where decision-making over financing and delivery is concentrated nationally, unlike a decentralised system with regional authority.
- Certainty CriterionTermConfidence Criterion, Evidence-Certainty Standard
- A standard assessing the degree of confidence placed in evidence supporting an assessment conclusion, closely related to GRADE evidence certainty.
- Certainty of EvidenceTermEvidence Certainty, Confidence in Evidence
- A judgement, made using a structured framework such as GRADE, about how confident decision-makers can be that an estimated effect reflects the truth.
- Certificate of NeedTermCON, Need Certificate
- A regulatory requirement mandating government approval before major capital healthcare investments, intended to prevent unnecessary service duplication and control costs.
- CertificationTermFormal Recognition, Standards Compliance
- A formal process recognising that an organisation or individual meets specific established standards, such as facility quality or clinical specialty requirements.
- Certification StandardsTermCertification Criteria, Certification Requirements
- The specific criteria an organisation or individual must satisfy to achieve a given certification, covering the relevant competency or quality domains.
- Cervical Cancer ScreeningTermPap Smear Screening, Cervical Screening
- A public health strategy using cytology or HPV testing to detect precancerous changes or early cervical cancer, credited with substantially reducing incidence.
- Chagas Disease EconomicsTermChagas Economics, American Trypanosomiasis Economics
- The application of health economic evaluation to Chagas disease, a parasitic infection endemic to Latin America causing serious cardiac and gastrointestinal complications untreated.
- ChampionTermChange Agent, Practice Advocate
- An individual within an organisation who actively advocates for and supports adoption of a new practice, helping overcome resistance.
- Chance NodeConceptProbability Node, Random Node
- A chance node is a point in a decision tree where an uncertain event, not a choice, decides the pathway, and its branch probabilities sum to one.
- Change LogTermRevision History, Model Revision Record
- A documented record of modifications made to a health economic model over time, including the date, nature, and reason for each change.
- Charge MasterTermChargemaster, Charge Description List
- An internal list maintained by a facility specifying the standard billed price for every service and supply, the starting point for patient bills.
- Charity CareTermFinancial Assistance Care, Free Care
- Free or reduced-cost healthcare provided by a provider to patients unable to afford full care, funded by the provider itself.
- Check SheetTermTally Sheet, Data Collection Sheet
- A simple structured form used to systematically collect and organise data during a quality improvement effort, tallying event frequency.
- ChecklistTermVerification List, Step-Verification Tool
- A structured tool listing a defined sequence of steps to verify, helping ensure consistency and completeness in a complex clinical task.
- ChemotherapyTermChemo, Cytotoxic Therapy
- A treatment using cytotoxic drugs to kill or slow the growth of rapidly dividing cancer cells, historically the primary systemic cancer treatment.
- Chemotherapy CostTermChemo Cost, Cytotoxic Treatment Cost
- The total expense of cytotoxic cancer treatment, covering drug acquisition, administration, and management of associated side effects.
- Chemotherapy EconomicsTermChemo Economics, Cytotoxic Therapy Economics
- The application of health economic evaluation to cytotoxic cancer treatment regimens, comparing different protocols and their combination with newer treatment modalities.
- Chi-Square DistributionConceptChi-Squared Distribution, Chi2 Distribution
- The chi-square distribution describes a sum of squared independent standard normals and is the reference for likelihood ratio, heterogeneity and fit tests.
- Chikungunya EconomicsTermCHIKV Economics, Chikungunya Fever Economics
- The application of health economic evaluation to chikungunya, a mosquito-borne viral infection causing severe and sometimes prolonged joint pain.
- Child Mental Health EconomicsTermPaediatric Mental Health Economics, Child Psychiatry Economics
- The application of health economic evaluation to mental health conditions and interventions specific to children, spanning developmental, behavioural, and emotional disorders.
- Children's HospitalTermPaediatric Hospital, Children's Medical Centre
- A specialist facility dedicated to medical care for infants, children, and adolescents, staffed for the distinct needs of paediatric patients.
- Choice Architecture InterventionConceptChoice Architecture, Nudge Design
- A deliberate change to how health-related options are presented or encountered that aims to influence decisions while requiring scrutiny of meaningful choice and downstream outcomes.
- Choice ExperimentConceptDiscrete Choice Experiment, DCE
- A choice experiment is a stated-preference method in which respondents choose among systematically varied alternatives, allowing analysts to estimate the relative value of attributes from observed choice patterns under a specified random-utility model.
- Choice OverloadTermOverchoice, Decision Paralysis
- A phenomenon in which too many available options reduces decision quality and satisfaction, sometimes leading to decision avoidance.
- Choice SetConceptChoice Task Set, Alternative Set
- The group of alternatives, typically hypothetical options and sometimes a status quo, presented to a respondent in a single choice task.
- Choice TheoryTermRational Choice Model, Consumer Preference Theory
- The body of economic theory describing how individuals select among alternative options to maximise satisfaction given limited resources.
- Choice-Based ConjointConceptCBC, Discrete Choice Conjoint
- Choice-based conjoint (CBC) is conjoint analysis in which patients or others choose between sets of described treatments or services rather than rate them.
- Choice-Based MethodTermChoice-Based Valuation, Preference Elicitation Choice
- A health state valuation technique in which respondents choose between alternative states or gambles, such as the standard gamble or time trade-off.
- Cholecystitis EconomicsTermGallbladder Inflammation Economics, Cholecystitis Cost Analysis
- The application of health economic evaluation to gallbladder inflammation, comparing timing and approach to surgical removal against conservative medical management.
- Cholesky DecompositionConceptCholesky Factorisation, Matrix Square Root
- Cholesky decomposition factorises a real symmetric positive-definite matrix into a lower-triangular matrix and its transpose.
- Choosing WiselyTermLow-Value Care Reduction, Overuse Reduction Initiative
- A quality improvement campaign engaging medical societies to identify commonly overused tests and treatments, prompting conversations to avoid unnecessary care.
- Chronic Disease EconomicsTermChronic Illness Economics, NCD Economics
- The application of health economic evaluation to long-lasting, non-communicable conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, typically using long time horizons.
- Chronic Disease EpidemiologyTermNCD Epidemiology, Chronic Condition Epidemiology
- A branch of epidemiology studying the distribution, risk factors, and natural history of long-lasting, non-communicable conditions such as diabetes and heart disease.
- Chronic Kidney DiseaseTermCKD, Chronic Renal Disease
- A condition involving gradual loss of kidney function over time, classified into severity stages, potentially progressing to kidney failure if unmanaged.
- Chronic Pain EconomicsTermPersistent Pain Economics, Chronic Pain Cost Analysis
- The application of health economic evaluation to chronic pain, comparing medication, physical therapy, interventional procedures, and multidisciplinary pain management.
- Citation TrackingTermCitation Chasing, Reference Tracking
- A literature search technique identifying further relevant studies by examining a key paper's reference list or later papers that cite it.
- Citizen JuryTermCitizens' Jury, Citizen Panel
- A public deliberation method convening randomly selected citizens to consider evidence on a health policy question, producing informed recommendations.
- Civil Monetary PenaltyTermCMP, Civil Money Penalty
- A financial penalty imposed by a government agency on an organisation found to have violated healthcare laws, distinct from criminal prosecution.
- CLABSI RateTermCentral Line Infection Rate, CLABSI Incidence
- A measure of the frequency of central line-associated bloodstream infections within a facility, tracking infection prevention performance for catheter care.
- ClaimTermReimbursement Request, Billing Submission
- A formal request submitted by a provider or patient to an insurer seeking payment for covered healthcare services rendered.
- Claim DenialTermDenied Claim, Payment Refusal
- A decision by an insurer to refuse payment for a submitted claim, typically because the service was deemed not covered or not necessary.
- Claims AdjudicationTermClaim Adjudication, Claim Review
- The process by which an insurer reviews a submitted claim to determine whether and how much it will pay, based on coverage terms.
- Claims DataTermBilling Data, Payer Claims Records
- Records generated when providers bill insurers for services, capturing diagnoses, procedures, and prescriptions filled, though not direct clinical detail such as lab values.
- Claims DatabaseTermClaims Data Warehouse, Insurance Claims Repository
- A large, structured collection of insurance claims data assembled from one or more payers, used to study healthcare utilisation and cost.
- Claims ProcessingTermClaim Handling, Claim Adjudication Workflow
- The overall administrative workflow through which a healthcare claim moves from submission through review, adjudication, and final payment or denial.
- Classification AccuracyConceptCorrectness Rate, Hit Rate
- Classification accuracy is the proportion of cases a test, coder or prediction rule assigns to the correct category, judged against a reference standard.
- Classification MethodsTermClassification Techniques, Classifier Methods
- Statistical and machine learning techniques assigning individuals or observations into predefined categories based on their characteristics, such as risk level.
- ClawbackTermRepayment Mechanism, Spending Recoupment
- A mechanism requiring manufacturers to repay a portion of sales revenue to government if total branded medicine spending exceeds an agreed threshold.