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.
D
- Discount Rate SelectionChoosing the Discount Rate, Rate Justification
- The methodological decision on which discount rate to apply in an economic evaluation, informed by the social opportunity cost of capital and relevant guidance.
- 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 PrincipleEconomic Foundation, Foundational Economic Proposition
- In health economics, a foundational proposition about how scarce resources are allocated, such as scarcity, opportunity cost and efficiency, underpinning the economic evaluation of health interventions.
- Expected Net Benefit of SamplingENBS, Net Value of Sampling
- Expected net benefit of sampling is the expected population value of the decision improvement produced by a proposed sample, minus the financial and opportunity costs of obtaining that evidence.
F
- Financial BarrierCost Barrier, Affordability Barrier
- An obstacle to healthcare arising from cost, including high out-of-pocket expenses, lack of insurance, or the opportunity cost of time off work.
O
- Opportunity CostForgone Benefit, Alternative Cost
- The value of the next best alternative forgone when a resource is allocated to a particular use.
- Opportunity Cost AnalysisOpportunity-Cost Appraisal, Foregone-Benefit Analysis
- A form of analysis explicitly estimating the health or value forgone elsewhere in a system when resources are allocated to a specific intervention.
- Opportunity Cost AssessmentOpportunity-Cost Evaluation, Displacement Assessment
- The process of estimating what health benefits or other value are displaced when a health system commits resources to a new intervention.
- Opportunity Cost CriterionOpportunity-Cost Decision Rule, Health-Maximising Criterion
- A decision rule stating that an intervention should only be adopted if the value it produces exceeds the value of resources it displaces elsewhere.
S
- Screening EconomicsEconomics of Screening, Early-Detection Economics
- The economic assessment of a screening programme’s full pathway, comparing its costs, health benefits, harms, budget implications and opportunity costs with feasible alternatives.
- Shadow PriceImplicit Price, Accounting Price
- The implicit value of a resource with no observable market price, reflecting the opportunity cost of using it in a particular way.
- Shadow Price of HealthMarginal Value of Health, Health Opportunity Cost
- The implicit value of health gains forgone when a health budget is spent inefficiently, used as a basis for setting a cost-effectiveness threshold.