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
- Audit StandardsStudy Audit Requirements, Compliance Review Criteria
- The specific criteria used to systematically review a study's conduct and records to verify compliance with its protocol and ethical requirements.
C
- Chemotherapy EconomicsChemo Economics, Cytotoxic Therapy Economics
- The application of health economic evaluation to cytotoxic cancer treatment regimens, comparing different protocols and their combination with newer treatment modalities.
- Clinical Cost AnalysisPathway Cost Analysis, Protocol Cost Analysis
- A cost analysis focused on the resources consumed within a specific clinical pathway or treatment protocol.
- Clinical Performance MeasurementClinical Performance Metrics, Clinical Quality Measurement
- A performance measurement focused specifically on clinical indicators, such as adherence to treatment protocols or complication rates.
- Clinical Quality EvaluationClinical Quality Assessment, Technical Quality Evaluation
- A quality evaluation focused specifically on the technical and clinical aspects of care delivery, such as adherence to treatment protocols.
- Clinical Trial DesignRCT Design, Protocol Design
- The structural and methodological plan for a trial, covering randomisation, comparator choice, and endpoint definition, shaping the evidence's suitability for economic modelling.
I
- Intention-to-Treat Population
- The complete set of trial participants analysed by their original random assignment, regardless of protocol deviations or non-adherence.
- Interoperability Standards
- The technical specifications and protocols enabling different healthcare information systems to exchange and interpret data consistently.
M
- Master Protocol
- An overarching trial framework establishing shared infrastructure to efficiently evaluate multiple treatments, diseases, or both within a single coordinated structure.
N
- Never Event
- A serious, largely preventable safety event that should essentially never occur if established protocols are followed, such as wrong-site surgery.
P
- Pandemic Policy
- Government policy governing pandemic preparedness and response, covering surveillance systems, vaccine and treatment stockpiling, and coordinated public health protocols.
- Per-Protocol Analysis
- An analysis including only trial participants who received and adhered to their assigned treatment as specified, excluding those with major protocol deviations.
- Per-Protocol Population
- The subset of trial participants who completed the study while closely adhering to the protocol, used as the analysis population for a per-protocol analysis.
- Platform Trial
- A trial design using one continuously operating master protocol to evaluate multiple treatments over time, letting treatments enter or leave by predefined rules.
- Pre-Specified Analysis
- A statistical analysis formally planned and documented, typically within a study protocol, before the study's data were collected or examined.
- Protocol
- The formal document describing a trial's rationale, objectives, design, methodology, and analysis plan, guiding its conduct and requiring ethics approval.
- Protocol Adherence
- The degree to which actual clinical care delivery conforms to an established, standardised treatment protocol.
- Protocol Development
- The process of creating a formal, detailed plan specifying objectives, methods, and analysis for an assessment or study before conducting it.
- Protocol Deviation
- An instance where a trial is conducted in a way departing from its approved protocol, ranging from minor administrative slips to more significant lapses.
- Protocol Violation
- 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.
Q
- Quantity Limit Protocol
- The clinical criteria and process an insurer uses to set and enforce quantity limits, including any exception process for clinical justification.
S
- Safety Policy
- An organisational policy establishing protocols intended to prevent patient harm, covering medication administration, infection control, and fall prevention.
- Sheffield Elicitation Framework
- A structured protocol eliciting probability distributions from a group of experts, combining individual assessment with facilitated group discussion toward a consensus.
- Step Therapy Protocol
- The specific clinical criteria and sequence an insurer requires a patient to follow before a more expensive treatment will be covered.
- Structured Expert Judgment
- A formal, methodologically rigorous approach to eliciting and combining expert opinion, with explicit protocols for framing, elicitation, and aggregation.
T
- Therapeutic Interchange
- Substituting a different medication within the same class for a prescribed drug, based on protocols indicating therapeutic equivalence, typically with physician notification.
- Treatment Protocol
- A formal, standardised plan specifying the exact treatments, doses, and schedule for managing a specific condition.
V
- Valuation Protocol
- The specific procedures, including instructions, health state descriptions, and elicitation technique, followed when conducting a health state valuation study.