Dictionary

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Sequential AnalysisConceptSequential Testing, Accumulating-Data Analysis

A statistical approach evaluating data as it accumulates, allowing early stopping once a predefined level of evidence is reached, rather than a fixed sample size.

Sequential Monte CarloConceptParticle Filtering, Recursive Bayesian Estimation

A class of algorithms, including particle filtering, estimating a sequence of unknown quantities over time by updating weighted samples as new data arrive.

Sequential SamplingTermSequential Data Collection, Adaptive Sampling

A data collection approach in which the decision to continue or stop sampling is made based on accumulating data, rather than a fixed sample size.

Sequential TherapyTermSequential Treatment, Step-Wise Therapy

A treatment approach in which different agents are administered one after another in a planned order, unlike simultaneous combination therapy.

Serial IntervalTermSerial Generation Interval, Case-to-Case Interval

The time between symptom onset in a primary infected case and symptom onset in the secondary cases that person infects.

Serious Adverse EventTermSAE, Serious Adverse Reaction

An untoward medical occurrence during research or treatment resulting in death, life-threatening risk, hospitalisation, or persistent significant disability, per international guidance.

Serious Reportable EventTermSRE, Reportable Safety Event

A formally catalogued category of serious, largely preventable safety events, such as wrong-site surgery, identified for standardised public reporting.

Serious Safety EventTermSSE, Serious Harm Event

A patient safety event causing significant harm, one of the more severe categories within a broader safety event hierarchy.

Service AreaTermCatchment Area, Facility Draw Area

The defined geographic region from which a facility draws most of its patients, used in planning and regulatory determinations.

Service CoverageTermCoverage Breadth, Service Reach

The proportion of a target population that receives a specific needed healthcare service, a building block of overall health system performance.

Service Delivery BlockTermService Delivery, Delivery Building Block

A core health system building block encompassing how interventions are organised and delivered to reach the population that needs them.

Service InnovationTermService Delivery Innovation, Care Delivery Innovation

An innovation introducing a new or substantially improved way of delivering a service, such as a care coordination model, rather than a clinical product.

Service LimitTermCoverage Cap, Service Frequency Limit

A restriction on the maximum number of times a specific service, such as physical therapy visits, will be covered within a period.

Service Line BudgetTermClinical Service Budget, Service-Line Budgeting

A budget allocated to a specific clinical service line, such as cardiology, covering its costs and expected revenues.

Service Line ManagementTermService Line Model, Clinical Service Management

An organisational approach grouping resources around specific clinical service areas, such as cardiology, rather than traditional departmental structure.

Service ProcessTermService Activity, Entity Service Step

The sequence of activities an entity undergoes while occupying a resource within a simulation model, along with its service time distribution.

Service UtilisationTermHealthcare Utilisation, Service Use

The extent to which a defined population uses a specific healthcare service, commonly measured as a rate per population over a period.

Service VolumeTermActivity Volume, Delivered Volume

The total quantity of a specific service delivered by a provider over a defined period, used as a measure of activity and experience.

SettlementTermConsent Judgment, Dispute Resolution Agreement

A formal agreement resolving a legal dispute without a full trial, typically involving a financial payment and additional compliance commitments.

Severity CriterionTermSeverity Weighting, Disease-Burden Criterion

A standard giving additional weight to interventions addressing more severe conditions, reflecting a preference for prioritising the greatest health shortfall.

Severity ModifierTermSeverity Weight, Severity Adjustment Factor

The severity modifier is a weight of 1.2 or 1.7 that NICE applies to QALY gains for conditions with a high absolute or proportional QALY shortfall.

Severity of DiseaseTermDisease Severity, Condition Severity

A measure of how serious a condition is, assessed by factors such as expected mortality or reduction in quality-adjusted life expectancy if untreated.

Severity of IllnessTermIllness Severity, Clinical Severity Class

A classification indicating how clinically serious a condition is, based on physiological instability and organ involvement, used to risk-adjust comparisons.

Sexual FunctionTermSexual Functioning, Sexual Wellbeing

A dimension of health-related quality of life capturing an individual's sexual health and functioning, affected by a range of conditions and treatments.

Sexual Health EconomicsTermEconomics of Sexual Health, Sexual Health Services Economics

The application of health economic evaluation to sexual health conditions and services, covering infection prevention, contraception, and sexual dysfunction treatment.

SF-36TermShort Form 36, RAND-36

A widely used generic health status questionnaire measuring functioning and wellbeing across eight domains, producing a profile rather than a single utility score.

SF-6DTermShort Form Six Dimension, SF6D Index

A preference-based utility measure derived from a subset of SF-36 or SF-12 items, combined using a scoring algorithm into a single utility index.

Shadow PriceConceptImplicit Price, Accounting Price

The implicit value of a resource with no observable market price, reflecting the opportunity cost of using it in a particular way.

Shadow Price of BudgetTermMarginal Value of Budget, Budget Shadow Price

The implicit value of relaxing a fixed health budget by one extra unit of currency, reflecting the health forgone elsewhere if it is not spent optimally.

Shadow Price of HealthConceptMarginal Value of Health, Health Opportunity Cost

The implicit value of health gains forgone when a health budget is spent inefficiently, used as a basis for setting a cost-effectiveness threshold.

Shared CareTermCollaborative Care Arrangement, Joint Care Management

A delivery model explicitly sharing responsibility for a patient's ongoing care between a primary care provider and a specialist, with defined roles.

Shared Decision MakingTermSDM, Collaborative Decision Making

A collaborative process in which clinician and patient work together, combining best evidence with the patient's own values and preferences.

Shared FrailtyConceptGroup Frailty, Correlated Frailty

An extension of the frailty model in which individuals within the same group are assumed to share a common unobserved risk effect.

Shared SavingsTermSavings Sharing, Savings Distribution

An arrangement in which a provider receives a portion of cost savings achieved relative to a predetermined spending benchmark for a population.

Shared Savings ProgrammeTermShared Savings Model, Savings Sharing Programme

A formal value-based payment programme in which providers earn a share of savings relative to a benchmark, provided quality standards are met.

Sheffield Elicitation FrameworkTermSHELF, Sheffield Elicitation Protocol

A structured protocol eliciting probability distributions from a group of experts, combining individual assessment with facilitated group discussion toward a consensus.

Shingles EconomicsTermHerpes Zoster Economics, Economics of Shingles

The application of health economic evaluation to shingles, a painful chickenpox virus reactivation mainly affecting older adults, largely preventable through vaccination.

Short-Term OutcomeTermShort-Run Outcome, Proximal Outcome

A clinical or economic outcome observed within a relatively brief period after treatment starts, unlike a long-term outcome requiring extended follow-up.

Sickle Cell EconomicsTermEconomics of Sickle Cell Disease, SCD Economics

The application of health economic evaluation to sickle cell disease, comparing supportive care against newer disease-modifying treatments and gene therapy.

Sign-OutTermShift Handover, End-of-Shift Report

The transfer of information about a patient's condition and care plan from one clinician to another, typically at shift change.

Signal DetectionTermSafety Signal Identification, Pharmacovigilance Signalling

The process of identifying a potential new safety concern from surveillance data, typically from a disproportionate reporting pattern warranting investigation.

Signal EvaluationTermSignal Assessment, Signal Investigation

The process of investigating a potential safety signal from pharmacovigilance surveillance to determine whether it represents a genuine, causally related effect.

SignalingConceptMarket Signalling, Costly Signalling

An action taken by an informed party to credibly convey private information to an uninformed party that could not otherwise be verified.

Signaling TheoryConceptTheory of Signalling, Spence Signalling

A body of theory analysing how individuals with private information take costly actions to credibly reveal it in markets with information asymmetry.

Significance LevelConceptAlpha Level, Significance Threshold

The significance level is a prespecified upper bound on the probability that a valid statistical test rejects its null hypothesis when that hypothesis is true.

Silver PlanTermSilver Tier Plan, Mid-Tier Marketplace Plan

A US Affordable Care Act marketplace plan category with a moderate actuarial value, around seventy percent, serving as the subsidy benchmark tier.

Simplification InterventionTermSimplification Nudge, Complexity Reduction

An intervention that reduces the complexity of choices or information presented to a decision-maker to improve decision quality.

Simpson ParadoxConceptSimpson's Paradox, Yule-Simpson Effect

A statistical phenomenon where a trend seen within subgroups reverses or disappears once those subgroups are combined into a single aggregated analysis.

Simpson RuleConceptSimpson's Rule, Parabolic Integration

Simpson rule is a closed Newton-Cotes numerical integration formula that approximates a definite integral over pairs of equal subintervals by integrating quadratic interpolants through successive triples of function values.

Simulated AnnealingConceptSA Optimisation, Annealing Optimisation

An optimisation technique modelled on slowly cooling metal, occasionally accepting worse solutions during search to avoid becoming trapped in a poor local solution.