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
- Aspergillosis EconomicsEconomics of Aspergillosis, Aspergillosis Care Economics
- The application of health economic evaluation to Aspergillus fungal infections, ranging from mild allergic reactions to severe invasive disease in immunocompromised patients.
B
- Black Box WarningBoxed Warning, FDA Boxed Warning
- The most serious US drug warning type, displayed prominently in a bordered box on prescribing information, highlighting significant serious risk.
C
- Choosing WiselyLow-Value Care Reduction, Overuse Reduction Initiative
- A quality improvement campaign engaging medical societies to identify commonly overused tests and treatments, prompting conversations to avoid unnecessary care.
- Cryptococcosis EconomicsCryptococcal Infection Economics, Cryptococcal Meningitis Economics
- The application of health economic evaluation to cryptococcal fungal infections, which can cause severe illness particularly in immunocompromised patients such as those with advanced HIV.
D
- Digital StandardsDigital Health Standards, Health Data Standards
- The technical specifications governing how digital health data should be structured, coded, and exchanged between systems, promoting interoperability.
E
- Early Access SchemeEAMS, Pre-Approval Access Scheme, Early Access Programme
- A regulatory programme letting patients with a life-threatening condition access a promising unlicensed medicine before full marketing authorisation, based on preliminary evidence.
- EUnetHTAEuropean Network for HTA, EU HTA Network
- The European Network for Health Technology Assessment, a collaborative network promoting methodological consistency and reducing duplication across EU member states.
F
- Factor RotationOrthogonal Factor Rotation, Oblique Factor Rotation, Varimax Rotation, Promax Rotation, Factor Rotations
- Factor rotation transforms an extracted factor solution to make its loading pattern easier to interpret while preserving the model-implied common covariance under an equivalent transformation.
G
- Generic InstrumentGeneric PROM, Generic Health Measure, Generic HRQoL, Generic Measure
- A health status questionnaire applicable across a broad range of diseases, allowing comparison across different populations at the cost of condition-specific sensitivity.
H
- Health InvestmentInvestment in Health, Health-Improving Investment
- Resources an individual or system devotes to maintaining or improving health capital, including healthcare use, exercise, and other health-promoting behaviour.
- Health PromotionHealth Improvement, Wellness Promotion
- The process of enabling people to increase control over, and improve, their own health, addressing the broader social and environmental conditions that shape it.
- Health Promotion EconomicsHealth Promotion Cost-Effectiveness, Wellness Economics
- The application of health economic evaluation to interventions improving population health through education, policy, and community programmes rather than direct treatment.
- Health SystemHealthcare System, Health Care System
- The organisations, people, and actions whose primary intent is to promote, restore, or maintain health, across formal and informal channels.
- 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 TechnologyMedical Technology, Health Intervention Technology
- A broad term covering any intervention used to promote health, prevent or treat disease, or improve rehabilitation and long-term care.
- High-Value CareHigh-Value Healthcare, Cost-Effective Care
- Healthcare providing substantial benefit relative to its cost and potential harms, the outcome quality improvement and cost-effectiveness aim to promote.
I
- Implementation ResearchImplementation Science, D and I Research
- A field developing and testing methods to promote systematic uptake of evidence-based interventions into routine practice and policy.
- Implementation StrategyImplementation Method, Adoption Strategy
- A specific method used to promote successful adoption of an evidence-based practice, such as academic detailing or audit and feedback.
- Infection Prevention EconomicsEconomics of Infection Prevention, Preventive IPC Economics
- The application of health economic evaluation to strategies preventing infections before they occur, spanning vaccination, hygiene promotion, and environmental interventions.
J
- Joint AssessmentCollaborative Assessment, Joint Clinical Assessment
- An assessment conducted collaboratively by multiple countries or bodies to reduce duplication and promote consistency across jurisdictions.
L
- Lead Identification
- An early drug discovery stage in which promising compounds from initial screening are characterised and prioritised for further development based on potency and selectivity.
- Lead OptimisationLead Optimization
- A drug discovery stage in which chemists modify a promising compound's structure to improve potency, selectivity, and pharmacokinetics before preclinical testing.
M
- Monitoring StandardsSurveillance Standards, Oversight Criteria
- The criteria and procedures used to oversee an ongoing study's conduct, ensuring compliance and prompt identification of emerging safety concerns.
N
- Net Promoter ScoreNPS, Patient Recommendation Score
- A customer loyalty metric based on likelihood to recommend, adapted in healthcare to measure patient satisfaction and provider recommendation likelihood.
O
- Oblique RotationCorrelated-Factor Rotation, Promax Rotation
- A factor analysis technique transforming a solution into a more interpretable structure while allowing the resulting factors to correlate with each other.
- Opinion LeaderKOL, Thought Leader
- An individual whose views carry particular influence over peers' attitudes and practices, often leveraged within implementation strategies to promote adoption.
P
- Physical Activity EconomicsExercise Economics, PA Economics
- The application of health economic evaluation to interventions promoting physical activity, from individual counselling to community and environmental design policy.
- Physical TherapyPhysiotherapy, PT
- A healthcare discipline restoring and promoting physical function and mobility through targeted exercise, manual therapy, and patient education.
- Practice GuidelinesClinical Guidance Document, Care Standards Document
- Formal, evidence-based recommendations developed by an expert panel to guide clinical decision-making for a specific condition, promoting consistent care.
- Prevention PolicyPreventive Health Policy, Health-Protection Policy
- Government or organisational policy specifically aimed at preventing disease onset or progression, spanning immunisation, screening, and health promotion.
- Prisoner ResearchIncarcerated-Population Research, Prison Study Ethics
- Research involving incarcerated individuals, subject to additional safeguards given the constrained, potentially coercive environment that could compromise free consent.
- PROMPatient-Reported Outcome Measure, PRO Measure
- An abbreviation for patient-reported outcome measure, any standardised instrument capturing a patient's own report of health status without clinical interpretation.
- Protocol ViolationMajor Protocol Breach, Serious Protocol Departure
- A significant departure from a trial's approved protocol that could compromise participant safety, data integrity, or scientific validity, more serious than a minor deviation.
- Public HealthPopulation Health Protection, Health Protection
- The science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting health through the organised efforts of society.
- Public Health PolicyPopulation Health Policy, Public-Health Legislation
- Government policy aimed at protecting and improving population health as a whole, covering prevention, promotion, and infrastructure investment.
- Public Health ProgrammePublic Health Intervention, Population Programme
- An organised population-level intervention that aims to protect or improve health, such as immunisation, screening or health-promotion campaigns.
R
- Reference CostBenchmark Unit Cost, Standard Costing Value
- A standardised unit cost for a specific healthcare service, published by a health system to promote consistency in costing across providers.
- Reminder InterventionPrompt Intervention, Cue-Based Intervention
- An intervention using prompts, such as text messages or letters, to counteract forgetting or procrastination in completing a task.
- Reminder SystemAutomated Reminder Tool, Prompt System
- A technology-based tool sending prompts to patients or providers to encourage a desired health-related action, such as taking medication.
- Research IncentiveInnovation Incentive, R&D Incentive
- A payment or benefit offered to encourage study participation, carefully calibrated to avoid becoming an undue inducement that compromises consent.
S
- Salience InterventionSalience Nudge, Attention Nudge
- An intervention that increases the prominence of certain information or features to influence decision-making.
- Screening ProgrammeScreening Program, Population Screening
- An organised public health initiative systematically testing an eligible population for early disease signs, before symptoms would otherwise prompt care-seeking.
- Sustainability EvaluationSustainability Assessment
- An assessment of whether the resource use of a programme can be maintained over time without compromising future capacity.
T
- Target IdentificationTarget Discovery, Drug Target Finding
- An early drug discovery stage identifying a specific biological molecule believed to play a causal role in disease, a promising point of intervention.
- Tarone-Ware TestTarone-Ware Statistic, Tarone-Ware Weighting
- A test comparing survival distributions using a weighting scheme between the log-rank and Peto tests, a compromise depending on when treatment differences emerge.
- Tiered AlertGraded Alert, Severity-Graded Alert
- A computerised clinical alert system categorising notifications by severity, presenting more urgent alerts more prominently than lower-priority ones.
- Timely AccessPrompt Access, Timeliness of Care
- A healthcare access dimension concerning whether patients can obtain needed care within a clinically appropriate timeframe, including wait times.
- Toxoplasmosis EconomicsEconomics of Toxoplasmosis, Toxoplasma Economics
- The application of health economic evaluation to toxoplasmosis, a parasitic infection posing particular risks to immunocompromised patients and fetal development.
U
- Undue InducementExcessive Inducement, Improper Incentive
- An offer so substantial it could overwhelm a prospective participant's rational judgement about risk, compromising the voluntariness of their consent.
- Urgent CareUrgent Treatment, Same-Day Care
- Healthcare services for conditions requiring prompt attention but not rising to a true emergency, typically delivered outside a hospital emergency department.