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
- Academic Medical CentreAMC, Academic Medical Center
- A hospital or health system affiliated with a medical school, combining patient care with education and research activities.
- Access PolicyHealthcare Access Policy, Health Care 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 CriterionAffordability Assessment, Budget Sustainability Criterion
- A standard judging whether a new technology's aggregate cost is sustainable within a health system's resources, considered separately from cost-effectiveness.
- Alliance ModelHealthcare Alliance, Collaborative Alliance
- A health system arrangement where multiple independent organisations formally collaborate while retaining autonomy, coordinating around shared objectives such as purchasing power.
- Allocative Efficiency MeasureAllocation Performance Indicator
- A quantitative indicator assessing whether resources within a health system are directed toward the combination of services producing the greatest total health benefit.
- Alma-Ata DeclarationDeclaration of Alma-Ata, Alma Ata Declaration
- An influential 1978 international declaration formally articulating primary healthcare as the foundation of an effective health system, essential to health for all.
- Assistive Technology CoverageAT Coverage, Assistive Device Coverage
- A measure of the extent to which a health system provides access to assistive devices, such as wheelchairs, for those with impairments.
B
- Blood Safety CoverageBlood Supply Safety, Safe Blood Coverage
- A measure of the extent to which a health system's blood supply is adequately screened and managed for safe transfusion.
- Budget AllocationBudget Distribution, Funding Allocation
- The process of distributing available financial resources across competing programmes, departments, or priorities within a health system.
C
- CapacityMaximum Throughput, Output Ceiling
- The maximum level of output a health system, facility, or programme can sustainably deliver given its available staff, equipment, and infrastructure.
- Centralized SystemCentralised System, Centralized Health System
- A health system structure where decision-making over financing and delivery is concentrated nationally, unlike a decentralised system with regional authority.
- Cost ControlSpending Control, Cost Limitation
- The policies and management practices used to limit or moderate healthcare spending growth within a health system or organisation.
- Cost per QALY ThresholdQALY Threshold, Threshold per QALY
- The maximum cost per quality-adjusted life year a health system is willing to pay for a health gain, used as the decision criterion in cost-utility analysis.
- Cost-Effectiveness League TableCE League Table, ICER Ranking Table
- A ranked list comparing incremental cost-effectiveness ratios across many separate studies, intended to help prioritise resource allocation across a health system.
D
- DecentralizationDecentralisation, Devolved Governance
- A health system approach distributing decision-making authority over financing or delivery away from a central government toward regional or local levels.
- Decentralized SystemDecentralised System, Devolved Health System
- A health system structure where significant decision-making authority is distributed to regional or local levels rather than concentrated nationally.
- DiffusionTechnology Spread, Innovation Uptake
- The process by which a new technology, treatment, or practice spreads through use within a population or health system.
- Digital AdoptionDigital Technology Adoption, Digital Uptake
- The process by which a digital health technology becomes accepted and integrated into routine use by patients, clinicians, or health systems.
- Digital InteroperabilityHealth Data Interoperability, System Interoperability
- The ability of different digital health systems and technologies to exchange, interpret, and use data seamlessly with one another.
- Digital PrivacyHealth Data Privacy, Digital Data Privacy
- The protection of an individual's personal information from unauthorised access or disclosure within digital health systems and applications.
- Digital SecurityDigital Health Security, Cybersecurity Health
- The technical and administrative measures protecting digital health systems and their data from unauthorised access, use, or disclosure.
- Digital TransformationDigital Change, Health System Digitalisation
- The broad process by which digital technologies fundamentally reshape how organisations operate, extending beyond single technology adoption to workflow and culture change.
- Disease AreaDisease Category, Condition Area
- A defined category of medical conditions, such as oncology, used to organise assessment activities and health system planning.
- DisplacementHealth Opportunity Loss, Benefit Loss Elsewhere
- The loss of health benefit elsewhere in a health system that results from allocating resources to a new treatment.
- Displacement EffectBenefit Loss Effect, Crowding-Out of Health Benefit
- The reduction in health benefit elsewhere in a health system that occurs when resources are reallocated to fund a new intervention within a fixed budget.
E
- Early Awareness SystemEAAS, Early Warning System
- A structured, ongoing process systematically identifying and tracking new technologies before market entry, giving health systems advance notice of implications.
F
- Federal SystemFederal Health System, Federated Governance Model
- A health system structure where authority is constitutionally divided between national and subnational governments, each retaining meaningful independent authority.
- Federation ModelFederated Health System, Multi-Tier Governance Model
- A health system arrangement dividing policy authority constitutionally between national and subnational governments, each retaining meaningful independent authority.
- Fragmented SystemUncoordinated Health System, Siloed System
- A health system characterised by poor coordination across its financing, regulatory, and delivery components, often resulting in gaps or duplication.
H
- Health PlanningHealth System Planning, Healthcare Planning
- The process of assessing a population's healthcare needs and planning health system infrastructure, workforce, and services development to meet them.
- Health SystemHealthcare Delivery System, Health Sector
- The organisations, people, and actions whose primary intent is to promote, restore, or maintain health, across formal and informal channels.
- Health System Building BlockSystem Building Block, Core System Component
- A specific core functional component of a health system, such as financing or service delivery, identified within an international framework.
- Health System Building BlocksWHO Building Blocks, Six Building Blocks
- The WHO framework that organizes health-system functions into six interacting domains: leadership and governance, financing, workforce, medical products and technologies, information systems, and service delivery.
- Health System EfficiencySystem Efficiency, Health System Productivity
- The degree to which a health system achieves maximum possible health outcomes from available resources, or a given outcome using minimum resources.
- Health System FairnessHealth System Equity, Fair Financing
- The degree to which a health system distributes financing burden and access equitably across the population, regardless of income or health status.
- Health System FinancingHealth Financing, Healthcare Financing
- Health system financing comprises the arrangements through which money for health is raised, pooled and used to purchase services in pursuit of access, equity, financial protection and efficiency.
- Health System FunctionSystem Function, Core Health System Activity
- A core activity a health system performs to achieve its objectives, commonly categorised as financing, resource generation, service provision, or governance.
- Health System FunctionsCore Health Functions, WHO Health Functions
- The core activities a health system performs to achieve its goals, commonly categorised as financing, resource generation, service provision, and stewardship.
- Health System GoalsHealth System Objectives, WHO Health Goals
- The fundamental objectives a health system aims to achieve, including improving population health, fairness in financial contribution, and responsiveness to expectations.
- Health System OrganizationHealth System Structure, System Configuration
- The arrangement of authority, financing and purchasing institutions, care providers, and patient pathways within a health system, including how those actors coordinate and are held accountable.
- Health System PerformanceSystem Performance, Health System Assessment
- An overall assessment of how well a health system achieves its goals, evaluated across population health outcomes, financial fairness, and responsiveness.
- Health System ResponsivenessSystem Responsiveness, Patient Responsiveness
- The degree to which a health system meets the legitimate non-health expectations of its population, such as dignity, autonomy, and prompt attention.
- Health System StrengtheningHSS, System Strengthening
- Efforts aimed at improving overall health system functioning, typically addressing core building blocks such as financing, workforce, or governance.
- Healthcare PerspectiveHealth System Perspective, Third-Party Payer Perspective
- An analytic viewpoint including only costs and outcomes falling on the healthcare payer or provider, excluding broader costs such as productivity loss.
I
- Integrated Delivery NetworkIDN, Integrated Health System
- A structure combining hospitals, physician practices, and often insurance functions under common ownership to provide a coordinated care continuum.
- Integrated SystemUnified Health System, Integrated Health Model
- A health system model in which financing, delivery, and often insurance functions are unified within a single organisation rather than separate entities.
M
- Marginal Cost of HealthcareHealthcare Marginal Cost, Marginal Health System Cost
- The additional cost of providing one more unit of healthcare service, such as treating one further patient.
- Mixed SystemMixed Health System, Public-Private System
- A health system combining elements of multiple financing and delivery models, such as public and private insurance operating alongside one another.
N
- National Health ServiceNHS, Tax-Funded Health System
- A health system financed primarily through general taxation and delivered through government-owned facilities and employed providers, exemplifying the Beveridge model.
S
- System AnalysisSystems Analysis, Health Systems Analysis
- An examination of how the financing, workforce and service delivery of a health system interact to produce population health outcomes.