Dictionary

C

Correct Coding InitiativeTermCCI, NCCI Edits

A US Medicare programme identifying and preventing inappropriate payment for services that should not be billed together, based on coding conventions.

Corrective ActionTermCAP, Remedial Action

A step or set of steps taken to remedy an identified compliance deficiency or violation, intended to prevent its recurrence.

CorrelationConceptStatistical Association, Co-Movement

Correlation is the tendency of two variables to vary together, with the form, direction, and strength of that association defined by the measure and population used.

Correlation CoefficientConceptPearson r, Association Coefficient

A correlation coefficient is a dimensionless statistic that quantifies the direction and strength of a specified form of association between two paired variables.

Correlation MatrixConceptCorrelation Table, Pairwise Correlation Grid

A correlation matrix is a square table containing the pairwise correlation coefficients among a set of variables.

Corridor DeductibleTermCorridor Cost-Sharing, Middle-Range Deductible

A deductible structure in which a middle range of costs requires patient cost-sharing, while costs below and above that range are more fully covered.

CostConceptResource Expenditure, Monetary Value of Resources

In health economics, cost is the value of resources used by a healthcare intervention, measured as the benefit forgone from their best alternative use.

Cost AccountingTermCost Accountancy, Management Accounting

The branch of accounting concerned with recording, classifying, and analysing the costs of an organisation's activities, products, or services.

Cost AdjustmentTermCost Uplift, Cost Re-Basing

The process of modifying a cost estimate to allow for inflation, currency differences, or changes in clinical practice, so costs from different periods can be compared.

Cost AllocationConceptShared Cost Allocation, Overhead Allocation, Indirect Cost Allocation, Cost Apportionment

Cost allocation is the assignment of shared or indirect resource costs to defined services, activities, or populations using an explicit allocation rule.

Cost AnalysisTermCosting Study, Cost Estimation Study

A study that estimates the resources consumed by a health intervention without relating those costs to health outcomes.

Cost AvoidanceTermAvoided Cost, Averted Expenditure

A reduction in future spending achieved by preventing a costly event, such as hospitalisation, unlike a direct reduction of current spending.

Cost CentreTermCost Center, Cost Pool

A specific department within a healthcare organisation to which costs are allocated and tracked separately for management and accounting purposes.

Cost Centre BudgetTermCost-Centre Allocation, Responsibility Budget

A budget allocated to a specific organisational unit responsible for incurring costs, such as a hospital department, without generating revenue.

Cost ContainmentTermCost Curbing, Spending Growth Control, Cost Control

Efforts aimed at controlling or reducing the rate of growth in healthcare spending, including price regulation, utilisation management, and payment reform.

Cost ConversionTermCurrency Conversion of Costs, Cost Rebasing

The adjustment of cost data from one currency, price year, or unit basis to another so costs can be meaningfully compared.

Cost DescriptionTermCost Reporting Study, Descriptive Costing

A study that reports the costs associated with a health condition or intervention without comparing them to an alternative or to outcomes.

Cost DriverTermCost Determinant, Spending Driver

A factor that causes the total cost of an activity to change, such as patient volume, case complexity, or length of stay.

Cost Driver AnalysisTermDriver Analysis, Cost-Factor Analysis

A systematic examination of the factors responsible for changes in total cost, used to break an overall increase into its component causes.

Cost FindingTermCost Allocation Process, Overhead Allocation

A cost accounting process allocating indirect and overhead costs across specific departments or services, producing information for management and payer reporting.

Cost FunctionTermCost-Output Function, Production-Cost Relationship

A mathematical representation of the relationship between the quantity of output produced and the total cost of producing it.

Cost IdentificationTermCost Categorisation, Cost Inclusion Decision

The process of determining which categories of resource use should be included in an economic evaluation before quantities and unit costs are measured.

Cost LimitTermCost Ceiling, Allowable Cost Cap

A maximum amount a payer will recognise as allowable cost for a service category when calculating reimbursement, a cost-containment mechanism.

Cost Management HospitalTermHospital Cost Management, Hospital Cost Control

The set of strategies a hospital employs to control and optimise operating costs while maintaining or improving care quality.

Cost MeasurementTermCost Quantification, Resource Costing

The process of quantifying the resources consumed by a health intervention in monetary terms, forming the empirical foundation of economic evaluation.

Cost MinimisationConceptCost Minimization, Least-Cost Selection

An approach to selecting among interventions already shown to produce equivalent outcomes, in which the choice reduces to the lowest-cost option.

Cost Outcome DescriptionTermCost-Outcome Study, Cost and Outcome Report

A study that reports both the costs and outcomes of an intervention without directly comparing them against an alternative.

Cost OutlierTermOutlier Case, High-Cost Case

A case whose actual treatment cost substantially exceeds what standard diagnosis-related group payment would expect, triggering additional supplemental payment.

Cost per QALYConceptCost/QALY, Cost per Quality-Adjusted Life Year

Cost per QALY gained is the extra cost of a treatment compared with an alternative, divided by the quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) it adds.

Cost ProjectionTermCost Forecast, Projected Spending

An estimate of future costs based on current spending patterns, anticipated changes in utilisation, or expected shifts in treatment practice.

Cost ReportTermProvider Financial Report, Medicare Cost Filing

A standardised financial document providers must periodically submit to government payers, detailing costs across various service categories.

Cost SavingsTermSavings, Realised Savings

A reduction in healthcare expenditure achieved through an intervention or policy, relative to what spending would otherwise have been.

Cost SharingConceptCost-Sharing, Patient Cost Share

Cost sharing is the part of the cost of covered care that an insured patient pays directly, through deductibles, co-payments or coinsurance, not premiums.

Cost Sharing AgreementTermCost-Sharing Agreement, Payer-Manufacturer Cost Split

An arrangement dividing a treatment's cost burden between payer and manufacturer according to a predefined formula, managing affordability within a fixed budget.

Cost Sharing DesignTermCost-Sharing Structure, Benefit Cost-Share Design

The specific combination of deductibles, copayments, coinsurance, and out-of-pocket maximums selected for a plan, determining enrollees' overall financial exposure.

Cost ShiftingTermCost Transfer, Cross-Payer Shifting

The practice of redirecting the financial burden of healthcare costs from one payer to another, such as charging privately insured patients more.

Cost StandardizationTermCost Standardisation, Comparable Costing

The process of adjusting cost estimates so they are expressed in comparable terms, such as a common currency or price year, across studies.

Cost StructureTermCost Composition, Cost Mix

The composition of an organisation's or intervention's total costs across categories, such as fixed and variable, or direct and indirect.

Cost ValuationConceptValuation of Costs, Resource Valuation, Monetary Valuation of Resource Use, Costing Valuation

Cost valuation is the assignment of monetary values to measured resource use in accordance with a specified perspective, setting, price year, and decision purpose.

Cost VarianceTermCost Deviation, Actual-vs-Budget Cost Gap

The difference between expected and actual cost for a given activity or service, often signalling inefficiency or changing input prices.

Cost-Based PricingTermMarkup Pricing, Cost-Plus Model

A pricing strategy setting price based on production cost plus a desired profit margin, rather than primarily on value provided or competitor pricing.

Cost-Based ReimbursementTermCost Reimbursement, Retrospective Cost Payment

A payment methodology reimbursing a provider based on actual documented cost, unlike prospective payment systems that pay a fixed amount regardless.

Cost-Benefit AnalysisConceptCBA, Benefit-Cost Analysis

Cost-benefit analysis values the costs and benefits of healthcare options in money, so they can be compared by their net benefit, usually to society.

Cost-Benefit PolicyTermMonetised Policy Appraisal, CBA Policy Framework

A policy analysis approach expressing both costs and benefits of alternative options in monetary terms, enabling direct cross-sector comparison.

Cost-Consequence AnalysisConceptCCA, Disaggregated Cost-Outcome Analysis

Cost-consequence analysis sets out the costs and each separate outcome of healthcare options side by side, without combining them into one result.

Cost-Effective InterventionTermGood-Value Intervention, Efficient Intervention

An intervention whose additional cost relative to its comparator is acceptable given its additional health benefit, judged against a cost-effectiveness threshold.

Cost-EffectivenessConceptValue for Money, Efficiency of Spending

Cost-effectiveness means an intervention's health gain justifies any extra cost versus an alternative, usually judged by the ICER against a threshold.

Cost-Effectiveness AcceptabilityTermCE Acceptability, Acceptability Probability

The probability that an intervention offers good value for money at a given willingness-to-pay threshold, accounting for uncertainty in the cost and effect estimates.

Cost-Effectiveness Acceptability Curve (CEAC)ConceptCost-Effectiveness Acceptability Curve, CEAC

A cost-effectiveness acceptability curve (CEAC) plots, across cost-effectiveness thresholds, the probability that each option is the most cost-effective.

Cost-Effectiveness Acceptability FrontierConceptCEAF, Acceptability Frontier

The cost-effectiveness acceptability frontier (CEAF) plots the chance the option with the highest expected net benefit is cost-effective, by threshold.