Dictionary

C

Caregiver ValueTermCarer Value, Caregiver Benefit

A component of a technology's value reflecting the benefit to informal carers, such as reduced burden, distinct from the patient's direct clinical benefit.

CarerConceptCaregiver, Informal Carer, Informal Caregiver

A carer is a person, usually a family member or friend, who gives unpaid care to someone with illness, disability or frailty, unlike a paid care worker.

Carryover EffectConceptCarry-Over Effect, Residual Treatment Effect

Carryover Effect is a treatment's effect persisting into a later crossover trial period, which can bias effect estimates used in HTA and economic models.

Carve-OutConceptBenefit Segmentation, Separated Benefit Management

Carve-Out is the removal of a service, such as pharmacy or behavioural health, from a health plan or payment unit so it is managed and paid for separately.

Case ComplexityConceptClinical Complexity, Case Difficulty

Case Complexity is how demanding a patient's case is to treat, given comorbidity, illness severity and social circumstances, which drive its resource use.

Case Fatality RateConceptCFR, Case Fatality Ratio

Case fatality rate (CFR) is the proportion of people diagnosed with a disease who die of it within a defined period, a measure of severity.

Case ManagementConceptCase Coordination, Patient Case Coordination

Case Management is a service in which a case manager or team assesses, plans and coordinates care for people with complex needs and high expected costs.

Case MixConceptCasemix, Patient Population Mix

Case mix is the composition of a provider's patients by diagnosis, procedure, severity and expected resource use, usually measured with DRGs or HRGs.

Case Mix IndexConceptCMI, Case-Mix Index

Case Mix Index (CMI) is the average diagnosis-related group relative weight of a hospital's discharges, showing how resource-intensive its cases are.

Case ReportConcept

A case report details one patient's presentation, management and outcome; in HTA it can flag rare harms but not estimate their rate or a treatment effect.

Case Series DesignConceptCase Series Study, Descriptive Case Series, Case Series

Case Series Design is an uncontrolled observational study of patients sharing a condition or treatment; in HTA it gives event rates, not treatment effects.

Case WeightConceptDRG Weight, Cost Weight

Case weight is a relative value for a diagnosis-related group showing its expected cost against the average case, used to scale payment from a base rate.

Case-Based PaymentConceptCase Rate, Per-Case Payment

Case-Based Payment pays a hospital a fixed amount per treated case, set in advance for the case's group, often by diagnosis, not by the services used.

Case-Control DesignConceptCase-Control Method, Case-Referent Design, Case-Control Study, Case-Referent Study, Retrospective Case Study

Case-Control Design is an observational study comparing past exposures of cases (with an outcome) and controls (without it), used in HTA for rare outcomes.

Case-Mix AdjustmentConceptCasemix Adjustment, Case-Mix Correction

Case-mix adjustment corrects comparisons of providers' costs or outcomes for differences in the patients they treat, so that like is compared with like.

Cash BudgetConceptCash-Flow Budget, Liquidity Budget

A cash budget is a period-by-period forecast of cash receipts and payments that shows when a health organisation will need financing or have spare cash.

Cash FlowConceptCashflow, Net Cash Movement

Cash flow is the money an organisation such as a hospital or health payer receives and pays out over a period, which can differ from its surplus or costs.

Cash Flow ProjectionTermCash-Flow Forecast, Cash Projection

An estimate of future cash inflows and outflows over a specified period, used to anticipate potential shortfalls before they occur.

Catastrophic Expenditure MeasureTermCHE Measure, Catastrophic-Spending Indicator

A quantitative indicator assessing whether household out-of-pocket healthcare spending exceeds a defined threshold share of income or consumption capacity.

Catastrophic Health ExpenditureConceptCHE, Catastrophic Spending

Catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) is out-of-pocket health spending that exceeds a set share of a household's total budget or its capacity to pay.

Catastrophic PlanTermCatastrophic Coverage, Minimum Coverage Plan

A US Affordable Care Act marketplace plan offering very low premiums with very high deductibles, generally limited to under-thirties or hardship cases.

Categorical DataConceptCategorical Variable, Categorical Outcome

Categorical data record which of a set of categories each observation falls in, such as alive or dead or an EQ-5D level, instead of a measured amount.

Categorical TargetingConceptCategorical Eligibility, Group-Based Targeting

Categorical targeting makes everyone in an easily observed group, such as children or older people, eligible for a benefit without testing individual need.

Category RatingConceptCategory Scaling, Categorical Rating Scale

Category rating is a health state valuation method where people place health states on a scale of ordered, equal-interval categories between two anchors.

Causal InferenceConceptCausal Analysis

Causal inference estimates what would happen to health outcomes or costs if a treatment or policy changed, using data, study design and stated assumptions.

Causal Loop DiagramConceptCLD, Systems Feedback Diagram

A causal loop diagram (CLD) maps signed cause-and-effect links between variables to show the feedback loops driving a health system or decision problem.

Causal PathwayConcept

A causal pathway is the sequence of steps through which an intervention or exposure produces a health outcome, acting through intermediate variables.

Cause and Effect DiagramTermFishbone Diagram, Ishikawa Diagram

A visual quality improvement tool, also called a fishbone diagram, systematically identifying potential root causes of a specific problem.

Cause-Specific MortalityTermDisease-Specific Mortality, Cause-of-Death Rate

The rate of death attributable to a particular disease within a defined population, calculated separately from deaths due to other causes.

Cause-Specific SurvivalTermDisease-Specific Survival, Net Survival

The probability of surviving without dying from a specific cause of interest, treating deaths from other causes as censoring rather than a competing risk.

CAUTI RateTermCatheter-Associated UTI Rate, CAUTI Incidence

A measure of the frequency of catheter-associated urinary tract infections within a facility, tracking infection prevention performance for catheter care.

Ceiling EffectConceptCeiling Limitation, Score Ceiling

A ceiling effect is a measurement limitation in which many respondents score at the top of a health scale, so further improvement cannot be detected.

Cell TherapyTermCellular Therapy, Cell-Based Therapy

A treatment involving the administration of living cells, such as genetically modified immune cells or stem cells, to treat or potentially cure a disease.

CensoringConceptCensored Data, Censored Observation

Censoring in survival analysis occurs when a patient's time to an event is only partly known, for example still event-free when trial follow-up ends.

Census DataConceptPopulation Census, Census Records

Census data are counts and characteristics of a whole population from periodic official enumeration, used in health economics for denominators and models.

Central Limit TheoremConceptCLT, Central Limit Law

The central limit theorem states that the mean of many independent observations with finite variance is approximately normal, whatever their distribution.

Central TendencyTermCentral Location, Location Statistic

A summary statistic describing a dataset's typical or central value, most commonly represented by the mean, median, or mode.

Centralized SystemTermCentralised System, Centralized Health System

A health system structure where decision-making over financing and delivery is concentrated nationally, unlike a decentralised system with regional authority.

Certainty CriterionTermConfidence Criterion, Evidence-Certainty Standard

A standard assessing the degree of confidence placed in evidence supporting an assessment conclusion, closely related to GRADE evidence certainty.

Certainty of EvidenceConceptEvidence Certainty, Confidence in Evidence

Certainty of evidence is GRADE's rating, from high to very low, of confidence that a true effect falls on one side of a threshold or within a chosen range.

Certificate of NeedConceptCON, Need Certificate

A certificate of need (CON) is a US state approval that health care providers must obtain before major capital spending, new facilities or new services.

CertificationTermFormal Recognition, Standards Compliance

A formal process recognising that an organisation or individual meets specific established standards, such as facility quality or clinical specialty requirements.

Cervical Cancer ScreeningTermPap Smear Screening, Cervical Screening

A public health strategy using cytology or HPV testing to detect precancerous changes or early cervical cancer, credited with substantially reducing incidence.

ChampionTermChange Agent, Practice Advocate

An individual within an organisation who actively advocates for and supports adoption of a new practice, helping overcome resistance.

Chance NodeConceptProbability Node, Random Node

A chance node is a point in a decision tree where an uncertain event, not a choice, decides the pathway, and its branch probabilities sum to one.

Change LogTermRevision History, Model Revision Record

A documented record of modifications made to a health economic model over time, including the date, nature, and reason for each change.

Charge MasterConceptChargemaster, Charge Description List

A charge master (chargemaster) is a US hospital's list of gross charges for every item and service it bills, before any discount or negotiated rate.

Charity CareConceptFinancial Assistance Care, Free Care

Charity care is free or discounted care a provider gives to patients who meet its financial assistance criteria and cannot pay all or part of the bill.

ChecklistTermVerification List, Step-Verification Tool

A structured tool listing a defined sequence of steps to verify, helping ensure consistency and completeness in a complex clinical task.

ChemotherapyTermChemo, Cytotoxic Therapy

A treatment using cytotoxic drugs to kill or slow the growth of rapidly dividing cancer cells, historically the primary systemic cancer treatment.