Dictionary

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Tracer IndicatorTermTracer Condition Indicator, Sentinel Indicator

A specific, carefully selected health service indicator used to represent broader health system performance across a defined domain.

Trade-offTermTradeoff, Competing-Objective Balance

A situation in which achieving more of one objective requires accepting less of another, such as extra health benefit only at extra cost.

Trade-Off AnalysisTermTradeoff Analysis, Trade-Off Assessment

A systematic examination of how competing objectives, such as cost and health benefit, are balanced against one another in a given decision.

Tragedy of the CommonsConceptCommons Problem, Common-Pool Overuse

The tragedy of the commons is the overuse of a shared resource, such as antibiotic effectiveness, when each user keeps the gain but the cost falls on all.

Training HTA CentreTermHTA Training Centre, Assessment Training Hub

An organisation providing professional education in assessment methods, building capacity and expertise among people working in or entering the field.

Training PlanTermTraining Programme Plan, Staff Development Plan

A structured strategy outlining how providers will be educated on a new technology's clinical indications, administration, and monitoring requirements.

Training PolicyTermWorkforce Development Policy, Staff Learning Policy

Government or organisational policy governing the requirements and standards for healthcare workforce education and ongoing professional development.

Training SetTermTraining Data, Learning Set

The subset of data used to originally fit a statistical model's parameters, distinct from a separate validation or test set.

Trajectory AnalysisTermGrowth Curve Modelling, Longitudinal Pattern Analysis

A statistical approach identifying and characterising distinct patterns of change in an outcome over time, often revealing subgroups with different courses.

Transaction CostConceptTransacting Cost, Exchange Cost

A transaction cost is the cost of finding, negotiating, monitoring and enforcing an exchange, such as a health service contract, beyond the price paid.

Transcription ErrorTermCopying Error, Recording Error

A mistake introduced when data are copied or transferred from one format or source to another, such as paper to electronic record.

Transdisciplinary CareTermCross-Disciplinary Care, Boundary-Blurring Care

A delivery model in which providers from different disciplines collaborate so closely that traditional boundaries blur, jointly developing a unified approach.

Transfer ManagementTermHandover Management, Patient Handoff Coordination

The processes coordinating the movement of a patient from one facility or unit to another, maintaining continuity and safety during transitions.

TransferabilityTermCross-Setting Applicability, Portability of Findings

The extent to which research findings generated in one setting or population can be validly applied to inform decisions elsewhere.

Transferability AssessmentTermTransferability Evaluation, Cross-Jurisdiction Assessment

An evaluation of whether an economic evaluation from one country or population can be validly applied to inform a decision elsewhere.

Transformative TherapyTermPotentially Curative Therapy, One-Time Therapy

A treatment producing a substantial, often durable improvement, potentially altering a disease's fundamental trajectory rather than providing incremental symptomatic relief.

Transient OutcomeTermTemporary Outcome, Short-Lived Outcome

A clinical or economic outcome that appears temporarily following treatment but does not persist, unlike a sustained outcome that continues over time.

Transient StateConceptNon-Absorbing State, Recurrent State

A health state within a Markov model that a patient can leave and potentially return to, unlike an absorbing state such as death.

Transition DefinitionTermTransition Rule, State-Change Criterion

The precise specification of the clinical event or criteria triggering a patient's movement from one health state to another in a Markov model.

Transition MatrixConceptProbability Matrix, Markov Transition Table

A transition matrix is the table of probabilities of moving between, or staying in, health states in one cycle of a Markov model, with rows summing to one.

Transition ProbabilityConceptMove Probability, Cycle Transition Chance

A transition probability is the chance of moving from one health state to another, or staying, during one cycle of a Markov or state-transition model.

Transition RewardTermTransition Payoff, One-Off Transition Value

A cost or outcome value applied at the moment a patient moves between two health states, unlike a state reward accrued over time.

Transition StructureTermAllowed-Move Pattern, State-Flow Structure

The overall pattern of permitted movements between health states within a Markov model, reflecting which transitions are clinically plausible.

Transitional CareTermTransition-of-Care Service, Inter-Setting Care

Actions ensuring the coordination and continuity of care as patients transfer between different locations or levels of care.

TransitivityTerm

A key network meta-analysis assumption that treatments compared indirectly are similar enough in relevant characteristics for the comparison to be valid.

Transmission ModelConcept

A model explicitly representing how an infectious disease spreads through a population by tracking interaction between infectious and susceptible individuals.

Transmission ProbabilityTerm

The likelihood that an infectious disease passes from an infected to a susceptible individual during a single contact between them.

TransparencyTerm

The degree to which the methods, data sources, and assumptions underlying research or a model are made clear and accessible to reviewers.

Transparency AssessmentTerm

An evaluation of the degree to which a model's structure, data sources, and calculations have been made accessible to external reviewers.

Transparency StandardsTerm

The requirements ensuring research methods, data, and findings are made appropriately accessible and understandable to participants, regulators, and researchers.

Transplant CentreTermTransplant Center

A specialist facility performing organ transplantation, maintaining certifications reflecting sufficient surgical volume and demonstrated outcomes for its transplant types.

Transplant EconomicsTerm

The application of health economic evaluation to organ and tissue transplantation, weighing donor, surgical, and lifelong immunosuppression costs against survival and quality of life gains.

TransportabilityTerm

The degree to which causal effects estimated in one population can be validly generalised to apply to a different target population.

Transportation BarrierTerm

An obstacle to healthcare arising from a lack of adequate transport to reach facilities, particularly relevant in rural or mobility-limited populations.

Trapezoidal RuleConcept

The trapezoidal rule approximates a definite integral by replacing a curve with straight-line segments and summing the resulting trapezoid areas.

Trauma CentreTermTrauma Center

A specialist hospital verified to treat severely injured patients, categorised into levels reflecting capacity to manage varying trauma severity.

Trauma EconomicsTerm

The application of health economic evaluation to severe physical injury treatment, covering emergency trauma care, surgery, and long-term rehabilitation.

Traumatic Brain InjuryTerm

An injury to the brain caused by an external physical force, such as a blow to the head, ranging from mild concussion to severe injury.

Treated PopulationTerm

The subset of an eligible or target population who actually receive a given treatment within a specified period.

TreatmentTermTherapy, Therapeutic Intervention, Medical Treatment

In health economics, any therapeutic intervention - pharmacological, device-based, surgical or behavioural - intended to cure, control or relieve a health condition, and the unit of comparison in most economic evaluations.

Treatment AccessTerm

A healthcare access dimension concerning patients' ability to obtain a needed treatment once a clinical decision has been made to pursue it.

Treatment Administration CostConceptDelivery Cost, Drug Delivery Cost

Treatment administration cost is the cost of giving a medicine to a patient, such as nurse and chair time and consumables; it varies by route.

Treatment AlgorithmTerm

A structured, step-by-step clinical decision pathway outlining the recommended sequence of treatment decisions for a specific condition.

Treatment ArmTerm

A specific group of participants within a trial who receive a particular intervention, dose, or comparator being evaluated.

Treatment CappingTerm

A contractual limit on the maximum amount a payer will reimburse for an individual patient's treatment, whether by cycles, dose, or total cost.

Treatment CoverageTerm

A measure of the proportion of individuals diagnosed with a condition who actually receive appropriate treatment, a stage within effective coverage.

Treatment De-escalationTerm

A planned reduction in treatment intensity, such as dose, frequency, or number of agents, once adequate disease control is achieved.

Treatment DiscontinuationTerm

The cessation of a prescribed treatment before its originally planned completion, whether from adverse effects, lack of efficacy, or patient preference.

Treatment DurationTerm

The total length of time a patient receives a specific treatment course, whether fixed in advance or continued until an endpoint.

Treatment EffectTerm

The change in an outcome attributable to a specific treatment, distinguished from changes that would have occurred regardless due to other factors.