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.
C
- Confidence EllipseJoint Confidence Region, CE-Plane Ellipse
- A graphical region, typically on a cost-effectiveness plane, showing where the true joint value of incremental cost and effect is expected to fall.
- Cost per QALYCost/QALY, Cost per Quality-Adjusted Life Year
- A measure of value for money in cost-utility analysis, calculated as incremental cost divided by the quality-adjusted life years gained relative to a comparator.
- Cost-EffectivenessValue for Money, Efficiency of Spending
- A property describing the relationship between an intervention's cost and its health effect relative to an alternative, usually summarised as an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio.
- Cost-Effectiveness League TableCE League Table, ICER League Table
- A ranked list comparing incremental cost-effectiveness ratios across many separate studies, intended to help prioritise resource allocation across a health system.
- Cost-Effectiveness PlaneCE Plane, Incremental Cost-Effect Plane
- A graph plotting an intervention's incremental cost against its incremental effect relative to a comparator, cost on the vertical axis and effect on the horizontal.
D
- Decision RuleChoice Rule, Explicit Decision Criterion
- A decision rule is an explicit criterion for choosing between healthcare interventions by comparing their incremental costs and health effects with the relevant cost-effectiveness threshold.
I
- Incremental CostAdditional Cost, Marginal Cost Difference
- Incremental cost is the difference in expected total cost between one healthcare option and its stated comparator, calculated using the same population, perspective, time horizon, currency, price year and costing methods.
- Incremental Cost EstimationCost Difference Estimation, Incremental Costing
- The process of estimating the difference in cost between two interventions, rather than each option's total cost in isolation.
- Incremental Cost-Effectiveness Ratio (ICER)Incremental Cost per Unit, Cost-Effectiveness Ratio
- The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio, or ICER, is incremental cost divided by incremental effectiveness, expressing the additional cost per additional unit of outcome when ratio interpretation is meaningful.
- Incremental Cost-Utility RatioICUR
- The difference in cost between two interventions divided by the difference in quality-adjusted life years they produce.
- Incremental Net BenefitINB, Incremental Net-Benefit Statistic
- The difference in expected net benefit between two competing interventions, found by converting the incremental health effect into money and subtracting incremental cost.
L
- League Table ConstructionICER Ranking, League Table Assembly
- The process of assembling and ranking incremental cost-effectiveness ratios from multiple separate studies into a single comparative table to guide resource allocation.
M
- Model OutputModel Results, Analysis Output
- The results produced by a health economic model, such as total expected cost, QALYs, and the resulting incremental cost-effectiveness ratio.
N
- Net Health BenefitNHB, Incremental Health Benefit
- A summary measure expressing an intervention's value in health units, converting incremental cost into health forgone and subtracting it from health gained.
- Net Monetary BenefitNMB, Money-Valued Benefit
- A summary measure expressing an intervention's value in money, converting its incremental health effect into cash at a set threshold and subtracting incremental cost.