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.
B
- Bayesian Analysis CEABayesian CEA, Bayesian Cost-Effectiveness Analysis
- The application of Bayesian statistical methods to cost-effectiveness analysis, combining prior beliefs with observed trial data to produce posterior distributions.
- Budget Impact Model PharmaManufacturer Budget Impact Model, Pharma BIM
- A budget impact model developed by a pharmaceutical manufacturer to project a product's financial consequences, typically submitted alongside a cost-effectiveness analysis.
C
- Cost-Effectiveness AnalysisCEA, Cost per Outcome Analysis
- Cost-effectiveness analysis compares healthcare alternatives by relating differences in their costs to differences in outcomes measured using the same natural unit, such as cases prevented or life-years gained.
- Cost-Effectiveness FrontierCE Frontier, Cost-Effectiveness Efficiency Frontier, Efficient Frontier in Cost-Effectiveness Analysis
- The cost-effectiveness frontier is the boundary of feasible strategies whose expected cost and effect combinations are not ruled out by strict or extended dominance under a specified decision framework.
D
- Digital Cost-EffectivenessDigital CEA, Digital Health Cost-Effectiveness
- The application of cost-effectiveness analysis to digital health interventions, such as mobile health apps or remote monitoring platforms.
- Distributional Cost-EffectivenessDCEA
- Distributional cost-effectiveness analysis evaluates how a health intervention changes both total health and its distribution across socially relevant population groups, including the distribution of health opportunity costs.
E
- Economic ReviewEconomic Evidence Review, Cost-Effectiveness Review
- An evaluation of the economic evidence, including a submitted cost-effectiveness analysis, typically conducted by an independent technical reviewer.
- Efficiency FrontierEfficient Frontier, Cost-Effect Boundary
- In cost-effectiveness analysis, an efficiency frontier connects the available strategies that remain after excluding options subject to simple or extended dominance.
- Extended Cost-EffectivenessECEA, Financial-Risk-Protection CEA
- A form of economic evaluation that extends standard cost-effectiveness analysis by incorporating financial risk protection and the distribution of costs and benefits by income.
G
- Generalized Cost-EffectivenessGCEA, WHO-CHOICE Analysis
- A form of cost-effectiveness analysis comparing a broad set of interventions against a common null counterfactual rather than against current practice.
T
- Time Horizon Selection HTAHTA Time Horizon, Lifetime Horizon Selection
- The methodological decision on how long a cost-effectiveness analysis should simulate costs and outcomes, often requiring a full lifetime horizon for chronic conditions.
V
- 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 For MoneyVfM, Worth the Cost
- A general term describing whether a technology's health benefit is judged sufficient to justify its cost, cost-effectiveness analysis's central question.
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.