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.
N
- Negative Recommendation
- A body's formal decision not to recommend a technology for funding, based on unacceptable cost-effectiveness at the reviewed price.
- Network Meta-Analysis HTA
- The application of network meta-analysis specifically within health technology assessment, generating comparative effectiveness estimates when treatments were never studied together.
- Non-Dominated Alternative
- An intervention on the cost-effectiveness frontier, meaning no other option or combination of options is both less costly and more effective.
- Northeast Quadrant
- The region of the cost-effectiveness plane where a new intervention is both more costly and more effective than its comparator.
- Northwest Quadrant
- The region of the cost-effectiveness plane where a new intervention is both more costly and less effective than its comparator.
- Not Cost-Effective
- A judgement that an intervention's ICER exceeds the relevant cost-effectiveness threshold, meaning its extra benefit does not justify its extra cost.
- Number Needed to ScreenNNS
- The number of individuals who would need screening for a condition to prevent one adverse outcome, based on prevalence and programme effectiveness.
O
- One-Way Sensitivity Analysis
- An analysis varying a single input parameter across its plausible range, one at a time, to assess its individual effect on cost-effectiveness results.
- Output Interface
- The component of a health economic model that presents its results, such as cost-effectiveness ratios, in a format accessible to users.
P
- Patient Access Scheme
- A managed entry agreement, most associated with the UK, offering a discount to improve a treatment's cost-effectiveness enough to secure reimbursement.
- Payer Value Message
- A concise statement summarising a technology's value specifically framed to address payer priorities, such as budget impact and cost-effectiveness.
- Pharmacoepidemiology
- A field combining pharmacology and epidemiology to study medication use, effectiveness, and safety within large populations, often using real-world observational data.
- Pharmacogenomics
- The study of how an individual's genetic makeup affects their response to specific drugs, covering both effectiveness and adverse reaction risk.
- Positive Recommendation
- A body's formal decision to recommend a technology for funding, based on acceptable cost-effectiveness at the reviewed price.
- Post-Market Monitoring
- The ongoing surveillance of a technology's safety and effectiveness after regulatory approval, capturing information beyond pre-approval trial data.
- Post-Marketing Commitment
- A study a manufacturer voluntarily agrees to conduct after approval, unlike a formally mandated post-marketing requirement, characterising real-world safety or effectiveness.
- Post-Marketing Surveillance
- The ongoing monitoring of a drug's safety and effectiveness after regulatory approval, capturing information not always evident from pre-approval trials.
- Price Cut
- A reduction in a drug's price, whether voluntary or mandated, affecting a treatment's ongoing cost-effectiveness and overall budget impact.
- Price Elasticity of ICER
- A measure of how sensitively a treatment's ICER responds to price changes, used to identify the price at which it crosses a cost-effectiveness threshold.
- Priority Setting
- The systematic process of deciding how to allocate limited health resources across competing needs, informed by cost-effectiveness and equity.
- Priority Setting Coverage
- The process by which a payer determines which services are included within a covered benefits package, informed by cost-effectiveness and evidence.
R
- Real-World Value
- An assessment of a technology's actual benefit and cost-effectiveness observed under routine clinical practice, unlike trial-based efficacy value estimates.
- Resource Reallocation
- The process of shifting resources from lower-value to higher-value uses, informed by comparative cost-effectiveness evidence, the core of priority setting.
- Results Export
- The process of transferring a model's calculated outputs, such as cost-effectiveness results, out of its software environment for further use.
- Rule of Rescue
- An ethical intuition describing the strong societal impulse to devote resources to rescuing identifiable individuals in immediate danger, even against cost-effectiveness logic.
S
- Scatter Plot
- A graphical display showing individual data points along two axes, commonly used to plot probabilistic sensitivity analysis results on the cost-effectiveness plane.
- Secondary Resistance
- A reduction in a cancer treatment's effectiveness developing after a period of initial successful control, unlike primary resistance from the outset.
- Severity Modifier
- An adjustment to a standard cost-effectiveness threshold permitting a higher accepted cost per QALY for treatments addressing more severe conditions.
- Shadow Price of Health
- The implicit value of health gains forgone when a health budget is spent inefficiently, used as a basis for setting a cost-effectiveness threshold.
- SMC
- The Scottish Medicines Consortium, advising Scotland's NHS boards on the clinical and cost-effectiveness of newly licensed medicines for local formulary decisions.
- Social Value Criterion
- A standard reflecting society's broader values and priorities, such as fairness, used to inform a decision beyond pure cost-effectiveness.
- Southeast Quadrant
- The region of the cost-effectiveness plane where a new intervention is both less costly and more effective than its comparator.
- Southwest Quadrant
- The region of the cost-effectiveness plane where a new intervention is both less costly and less effective than its comparator.
- Stewardship Economics
- The application of health economic evaluation to programmes optimising antimicrobial use, preserving effectiveness while reducing unnecessary costs and adverse effects.
- Stratified Analysis
- An economic evaluation reporting cost-effectiveness results separately for distinct population subgroups, such as by disease severity or age, rather than one pooled result.
- Subgroup Analysis
- An analysis reporting cost-effectiveness or outcome results separately for a defined patient subgroup rather than only the overall study population.
- Summative Evaluation
- An evaluation conducted after a programme has been fully implemented, intended to assess its overall effectiveness and inform a final judgement.
- Systematic Review HTA
- A systematic review conducted specifically to support a health technology assessment, focused on comparative clinical effectiveness and safety versus alternatives.
T
- Take-Up Rate
- The proportion of individuals eligible for an insurance product or subsidy who actually enrol, assessing a coverage programme's effectiveness.
- Technology Replacement
- The process by which a newer technology supersedes an older, established alternative, motivated by improved effectiveness, safety, or cost-efficiency.
- Telemedicine Utility
- An assessment of the clinical and economic value of delivering healthcare remotely, covering access, travel burden, and comparative effectiveness against in-person care.
- Threshold Criterion
- The specific cost-effectiveness benchmark an assessment body uses to judge whether a technology's ICER represents acceptable value for money.
- Threshold Price
- The price at which a technology's ICER exactly equals a decision-maker's cost-effectiveness threshold, the maximum price still considered an acceptable use of resources.
- Time Horizon Selection HTA
- The methodological decision on how long a cost-effectiveness analysis should simulate costs and outcomes, often requiring a full lifetime horizon for chronic conditions.
- TLV
- The Swedish Dental and Pharmaceutical Benefits Agency, determining which pharmaceuticals and dental services are subsidised based on cost-effectiveness assessment.
- Treatment Ranking
- The ordering of treatments in a network meta-analysis by estimated relative effectiveness, often summarised using measures such as SUCRA or P-scores.
- Treatment Satisfaction
- A patient's overall subjective evaluation of a specific treatment received, covering perceived effectiveness, convenience, and tolerability.
V
- Value Assessment
- The process of evaluating a technology's overall benefit relative to its cost, encompassing cost-effectiveness analysis and broader value frameworks.
- Value For Money
- A general term describing whether a technology's health benefit is judged sufficient to justify its cost, cost-effectiveness analysis's central question.
- Value Framework
- A structured tool for systematically assessing a technology's overall value, encompassing considerations beyond a single cost-effectiveness ratio, such as toxicity.