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.
A
- Access Barrier
- Any factor impeding an individual's ability to obtain needed healthcare, spanning availability, affordability, accessibility, accommodation, and acceptability dimensions.
- Access Policy
- A government or health system policy designed to improve individuals' ability to obtain needed healthcare, addressing dimensions such as affordability or availability.
- Affordability
- The degree to which a healthcare service or intervention can be obtained within a patient's or payer's financial means.
- Affordability Criterion
- A standard judging whether a new technology's aggregate cost is sustainable within a health system's resources, considered separately from cost-effectiveness.
- Affordability Threshold
- The level of budget impact beyond which a payer considers a new technology's total cost unsustainable, regardless of its individual cost-effectiveness.
C
- Cost Sharing Agreement
- An arrangement dividing a treatment's cost burden between payer and manufacturer according to a predefined formula, managing affordability within a fixed budget.
F
- Fundamental Access Assessment
- An access assessment limited to the two most basic dimensions of the framework, availability and affordability.
U
- Unmet Need
- A gap between an individual's healthcare needs and the care they actually receive, whether from availability, affordability, or other barriers.