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.
T
- Trial-Based AnalysisWithin-Trial Analysis, Trial-Based Economic Evaluation
- An economic evaluation using cost and outcome data collected directly alongside a clinical trial, rather than synthesised from multiple external sources.
V
- Vaccine Programme EvaluationImmunisation Programme Evaluation, Vaccine Programme Assessment
- A comprehensive assessment of a vaccination programme's costs, health outcomes, and broader impact, including indirect population-level herd immunity effects.
- Value AssessmentValue Evaluation, Value Appraisal
- The process of evaluating a technology's overall benefit relative to its cost, encompassing cost-effectiveness analysis and broader value frameworks.
- Value FrameworkValue Assessment Framework, Value Scoring Framework
- A structured tool for systematically assessing a technology's overall value, encompassing considerations beyond a single cost-effectiveness ratio, such as toxicity.
- Value in HealthcareHealthcare Value, Value in Health
- A concept defined as health outcomes achieved for patients relative to the cost of achieving them, the central principle of value-based reform.
- Value Measurement
- The assessment of healthcare value as the outcomes achieved relative to the cost incurred across a full cycle of care.
- Value PropositionProduct Value Case, Payer Value Case
- A clear, concise statement articulating a technology's benefits relative to existing alternatives and why those benefits justify its proposed cost.
- Value ScoreValue Rating, Value Index
- A numerical rating summarising a technology's overall assessed value, combining multiple factors such as clinical benefit, toxicity, and cost.
- Value-Based AssessmentValue-Based Appraisal, Multi-Dimensional Value Assessment
- An evaluation approach explicitly centring the relationship between a technology's outcomes and cost, potentially incorporating multiple value dimensions.
- Value-Based HealthcareVBHC, Value-Based Care
- A framework organising delivery and payment around maximising health outcomes achieved for patients relative to cost, rather than service volume.
- Value-Based PricingVBP Pricing, Value-Based Price Setting
- A pricing approach setting a treatment's price to reflect its health benefit relative to existing alternatives, often linked to a cost-effectiveness threshold.
- Valve Replacement EconomicsValvular Replacement Economics, Valve Surgery Economics
- The application of health economic evaluation to replacing a damaged heart valve, comparing durability, complications, and costs across device types and approaches.
- Variation AnalysisVariation Analysis Performance, Practice Variation Analysis
- An examination of differences in healthcare utilisation, cost, or outcomes across providers, regions, or time periods, identifying patterns for investigation.
W
- Welfare EconomicsWelfarism, Welfare Theory
- In health economics, the branch of economics concerned with evaluating how the allocation of resources and health affects the overall wellbeing of society, providing the normative basis for cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis.
- Within-Trial Evaluation
- An economic evaluation using cost and outcome data collected directly within a clinical trial's follow-up period, without extrapolation beyond it.
- Worst Case Scenario
- A combination of assumptions representing the least favourable plausible circumstances for an intervention's cost-effectiveness, used within scenario analysis.