Dictionary

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Allowed AmountTermAllowed Charge, Recognised Payment

The maximum an insurer will recognise as payment for a service under its provider contracts, which may be less than the amount billed.

Alma-Ata DeclarationConceptDeclaration of Alma-Ata, Alma-Ata 1978

The Alma-Ata Declaration is the 1978 WHO and UNICEF conference statement that defined primary health care and made it the key to Health for All by 2000.

Alpha SpendingConceptError Spending

Alpha spending is a group sequential trial method that spreads the type I error rate (alpha) across interim and final analyses as information accrues.

Alteration of ConsentTermConsent Alteration, Modified Consent

A modification to the standard consent process, such as omitting information, permitted under specific conditions where it would not harm participant welfare.

Alternative HypothesisTermH1, Research Hypothesis

In hypothesis testing, the specific claim tested against the null hypothesis, typically representing a genuine effect the researcher is trying to detect.

Alzheimer DiseaseTermAlzheimer's Disease, Alzheimer Dementia

A progressive neurodegenerative condition and the most common cause of dementia, marked by gradual decline in memory, cognition, and independence.

AMA DischargeTermDischarge Against Medical Advice, Self-Discharge

A hospital discharge occurring against medical advice, where a patient chooses to leave before clinicians recommend, despite informed risk disclosure.

Ambulatory CareConceptOutpatient Care, Ambulatory Services

Ambulatory care is health care without an overnight hospital stay, such as GP, outpatient and day-case care, counted apart from inpatient care spending.

Ambulatory Payment ClassificationConceptAPC, Outpatient Payment Grouping

Ambulatory Payment Classification (APC) is Medicare's grouping of clinically similar, similarly costly hospital outpatient services sharing one base rate.

Ambulatory Surgery CentreTermASC, Day-Surgery Unit

A specialist facility providing same-day surgical procedures not requiring overnight stay, typically at lower cost than an equivalent hospital procedure.

AMCP DossierConceptAcademy of Managed Care Pharmacy Dossier, AMCP Format Dossier

The AMCP dossier is a manufacturer's evidence package, built to AMCP's Format for Formulary Submissions, that US health plans use in formulary decisions.

AMR Economic BurdenConceptResistance Cost Burden

AMR economic burden is the extra cost antimicrobial resistance imposes on health systems and economies, measured against susceptible or no infection.

Analysis ErrorConceptAnalytic Error, Analysis Mistake

Analysis error is a mistake in specifying, coding or reporting a statistical or economic analysis, such as a model slip that alters an ICER.

Analytic EpidemiologyConceptAnalytical Epidemiology, Hypothesis-Testing Epidemiology

Analytic epidemiology tests causes of disease by comparing groups, estimating the relative risks and attributable fractions used in economic models.

Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) ClassificationTermATC, ATC Classification, ATC Code

A drug classification system organising medications by the organ system they act on, therapeutic intent, and chemical characteristics, used internationally.

Anchor-Based MIDConceptAnchor-Based Minimal Important Difference, Anchor-Based Threshold

Anchor-based MID is a minimal important difference estimated by linking score changes to an external anchor, such as a patient's global rating of change.

Anchoring BiasConceptStarting Point Bias, Initial Value Effect, Anchoring Concept, Anchoring Heuristic, Anchor Bias Effect

Anchoring bias is the pull of a starting value, such as an opening bid or the first offer in a time trade-off, on answers in health valuation surveys.

Anchoring Bias in ElicitationConceptElicitation Anchoring, Expert Anchoring Bias

Anchoring bias in elicitation is an expert's insufficient adjustment from a starting value, giving shifted, too-narrow distributions for model inputs.

Annual CostTermYearly Cost, Annual Treatment Cost

The total expense of a treatment or condition over a one-year period, a standardised basis for comparing chronic treatment costs.

Annual LimitTermYearly Benefit Cap, Annual Benefit Limit, Annual Maximum, Yearly Maximum Benefit, Maximum Annual Payout

A cap on the total amount an insurance plan will pay for covered services within a year, beyond which the enrollee pays.

AnnualisationConcept

Annualisation is the conversion of a capital outlay into an equal yearly cost over the asset's useful life, using an annuity factor and the discount rate.

Annuity PaymentConceptInstalment Payment, Installment Payment, Amortised Payment, Gene Therapy Annuity, Instalment Reimbursement

Annuity payment is an agreement to pay for a one-off therapy in yearly instalments, not upfront, with later ones sometimes stopping if the therapy fails.

AnonymizationConceptAnonymisation, Irreversible De-Identification

Anonymization is processing personal health data so no one is identifiable by means reasonably likely to be used, taking it outside data protection law.

Anonymous ReportingTermWhistleblower Reporting, Hotline, Reporting Line, Confidential Reporting Channel

A mechanism allowing individuals to report suspected compliance violations without revealing their identity, encouraging reporting by reducing fear of retaliation.

Antenatal Care CoverageConceptANC Coverage, Prenatal Care Coverage

Antenatal care coverage is the share of women with a recent live birth who had at least one, four or eight antenatal contacts; ANC4+ is a UHC tracer.

Anti-Kickback StatuteConceptAKS, Federal Anti-Kickback Law

The Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) is a US criminal law banning paying or receiving anything of value for referrals of care paid by federal health programmes.

Antibiotic StewardshipConceptPrudent Prescribing, Stewardship Programme

Antibiotic stewardship is a coordinated programme that improves antibiotic prescribing to protect patients, slow resistance and cut avoidable costs.

Antimicrobial EconomicsConceptAnti-Infective Economics, Economics of Antimicrobials, Resistance Economics, AMR Economics, Resistance Cost Analysis

Antimicrobial economics applies health economics to anti-infectives: resistance as an externality, population value and incentives for new antibiotics.

Antimicrobial ResistanceConceptAMR

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is the ability of microbes to withstand antimicrobial medicines, making infections harder to treat and costlier to manage.

Antithetic VariatesConceptAntithetic Sampling, Antithetic Variables

Antithetic variates are a variance reduction method that pairs each random draw with its mirror image so errors tend to cancel in Monte Carlo simulation.

Anxiety Disorder CostTermCost of Anxiety, Anxiety Burden

The total economic burden of anxiety disorders, covering direct treatment costs, lost workplace productivity, and broader impacts on quality of life.

Anxiety SymptomsTermAnxiety Scale, Anxiety Symptom Measure

Anxiety symptoms are the features of anxiety, as in generalised anxiety disorder, whose severity health studies measure with tools like the GAD-7.

Appeal ProcessConceptAppeals Process, Appeal Mechanism

The appeal process in health technology assessment (HTA) lets consultees challenge a recommendation on set grounds, such as unfairness or unreasonableness.

Appeals DesignConceptAppeals System Design, Appeal Structure

Appeals design is the set of rules for contesting a health insurer's coverage denial: filing windows, deadlines, review levels and independent review.

Applicability AssessmentConceptApplicability Evaluation, Model-Relevance Check

Applicability assessment judges whether an economic evaluation or model fits a decision problem's population, comparators, care setting and methods.

Applicability CriterionTermApplicability Standard, Generalisability Criterion

A standard assessing whether evidence supporting an assessment is sufficiently relevant and generalisable to the population and setting intended.

AppraisalConcept

Appraisal in HTA is the step after assessment in which a committee weighs the evidence and recommends whether a health technology should be funded.

Appraisal CommitteeConceptAppraisal Panel, HTA Appraisal Panel, Reimbursement Committee, Coverage Committee, Payer Decision Panel, Technology Committee, Technology Advisory Committee, Assessment Committee

An appraisal committee is an independent expert and lay panel in an HTA body that weighs clinical and cost-effectiveness evidence to recommend on funding.

Appraisal MeetingTermCommittee Meeting, Appraisal Hearing, Committee Discussion, Committee Deliberation, Appraisal Discussion

A formal session at which an appraisal committee reviews submitted evidence, discusses key issues, and deliberates toward a decision.

Appraisal ProcessTermAppraisal Workflow, HTA Decision Pathway

The complete sequence of steps an assessment body follows, from evidence submission through committee deliberation to a final recommendation.

Appropriate CareConceptAppropriate Treatment, Evidence-Concordant Care

Appropriate care is care whose expected benefit exceeds its harms by a clear margin, avoiding overuse and underuse that reduce health system efficiency.

AppropriatenessTermClinical Suitability, Care Justifiability

A judgement of whether a procedure's expected health benefit exceeds its expected negative consequences by a sufficiently wide margin to justify performing it.

Appropriateness CriteriaConceptAppropriate Use Criteria, Appropriateness Standards

Appropriateness criteria are expert panel ratings of when a procedure's benefit exceeds its harms enough to be worth doing, exclusive of cost.

AQoLConceptAssessment of Quality of Life

AQoL (Assessment of Quality of Life) is a family of Australian multi-attribute utility instruments, AQoL-4D to AQoL-8D, that score health states for QALYs.

Area Under CurveConceptAUC, AUROC, C-Statistic

Area under the curve (AUC), or C-statistic, is the probability a test or risk model scores a random case above a random non-case (0.5 chance, 1 perfect).

Area Under Curve ApproachTermAUC Method, Restricted Mean Survival Approach

A survival extrapolation method fitting a parametric distribution to observed data and calculating the area under the resulting curve to estimate mean survival.

Arrival ProcessConceptInput Process, Entity Arrivals

Arrival process is the pattern in time, random or scheduled, by which patients or other entities enter a queueing model or simulation of a health service.

Artificial Intelligence in HealthConceptAI in Healthcare, Health AI

Artificial intelligence in health is software that infers predictions or decisions from data, valued in HTA by its effect on costs and outcomes.

ASCOTConceptAdult Social Care Outcomes Toolkit, Adult Social Care Outcome Toolkit

ASCOT is the Adult Social Care Outcomes Toolkit, a preference-weighted measure of social care-related quality of life for economic evaluation of care.

ASMR RatingConceptASMR, Amelioration du Service Medical Rendu

The ASMR rating is the French HAS grade, from major (I) to none (V), of how much a medicine improves on existing treatments, used to frame its price.