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.
I
- InitializationTermModel Initialisation, Starting-State Setup
- The process of specifying a model's starting conditions, such as how a simulated cohort is distributed across health states at the outset.
- Injury EpidemiologyTermInjury Surveillance, Trauma Epidemiology
- A branch of epidemiology studying the distribution, causes, and prevention of injuries, both unintentional, such as falls, and intentional, such as assault.
- Inner LoopTermInner Simulation Loop, Conditional Loop
- The portion of a nested simulation running a complete analysis for each parameter set drawn in an outer loop, used in value of information calculations.
- InnovationTermNew Idea Introduction, Value-Creating Novelty
- The introduction of a new idea, technology, or method that creates value, from incremental improvement to fundamental, disruptive change.
- Innovation AdoptionTermTechnology Adoption, Adoption of Innovation
- The process by which a new technology or practice becomes accepted and integrated into routine clinical use over time.
- Innovation AssessmentTermInnovation Evaluation
- An evaluation of how far a new technology advances on the existing standard of care, informing whether its novelty justifies additional cost.
- Innovation CriterionTermInnovation Weighting, Novelty Criterion
- A standard giving additional weight to a technology's genuinely novel characteristics, such as a new mechanism addressing unmet need.
- Innovative TreatmentTermNovel Treatment, Pioneering Treatment
- A technology introducing a genuinely novel approach to a condition, unlike an incremental modification of an existing treatment.
- Innovative ValueTermNovelty Value, Innovation Value Component
- A component of a technology's value reflecting genuinely novel characteristics, such as an entirely new mechanism addressing unmet need.
- Inpatient CareTermAdmitted Patient Care, Overnight Hospital Care
- Healthcare services provided to a patient formally admitted to hospital, typically requiring at least one overnight stay, unlike outpatient care.
- Inpatient Quality IndicatorTermIQI, Hospital Quality Indicator
- A standardised measure assessing inpatient stay care quality, covering hospital mortality, procedure utilisation, and complex procedure volume.
- Inpatient RehabilitationTermIRF Care, Acute Rehabilitation
- Intensive, multidisciplinary rehabilitative care for a hospitalised patient recovering from a significant illness, injury, or surgery, in a dedicated unit.
- Inpatient SurgeryTermAdmitted Surgery, Overnight Surgery
- A surgical procedure performed on a patient formally admitted to hospital, typically requiring at least one overnight stay, unlike outpatient surgery.
- Institutional PerspectiveTermHospital Perspective, Provider Institution Perspective
- An analytic viewpoint including only costs and outcomes relevant to a single institution, such as a hospital, rather than the broader health system.
- Institutional Review BoardTermIRB, Research Ethics Board
- A formally constituted committee responsible for reviewing and approving human subjects research, ensuring risks are minimised and informed consent is adequate.
- Instrumental Activities of Daily LivingTermIADL, Complex Daily Activities
- Activities required for independent living beyond basic self-care, such as managing finances and using transport, distinct from basic activities of daily living.
- Instrumental VariableConceptIV, Instrument
- An instrumental variable is a variable that changes treatment or exposure uptake while, under specified causal assumptions, being independent of potential outcomes and affecting the outcome only through that treatment or exposure.
- Instrumental Variable AnalysisConceptIV Analysis, IV Estimation, Instrumental Variable Design, IV Design, Instrument-Based Design
- Instrumental variable analysis is a causal estimation approach that uses variation in treatment or exposure induced by a qualifying instrument to estimate an effect under explicit identification and modelling assumptions.
- Insulin CostTermCost of Insulin, Insulin Price
- The price of insulin required for diabetes management, a significant and closely scrutinised component of overall diabetes treatment cost.
- Insurance Appeal ProcessTermClaim Appeal Procedure, Coverage Appeal Process
- The formal procedure through which an insured individual can challenge a denied claim or coverage decision, requesting reconsideration.
- Insurance Coverage GapTermCoverage Lapse, Uninsured Period
- A period during which an individual lacks any health insurance, whether from a job transition, lost programme eligibility, or another disruption.
- Insurance MandateTermHealth Insurance Requirement, Statutory Coverage Requirement, Mandate, Compulsory Coverage Rule, Insurance-Purchase Requirement
- A general term for a legal requirement that individuals maintain, or employers offer, health insurance coverage.
- Insurance PolicyTermPolicy Contract, Insurance Contract
- A contractual arrangement in which an individual pays a periodic premium for financial protection against specified future events, up to defined terms.
- Insurance ValueTermFinancial Risk Value, Risk-Protection Value
- A component of a technology's value reflecting the benefit patients receive from reduced financial risk, distinct from direct clinical benefit.
- Intangible CostConceptNon-Financial Cost, Psychosocial Cost
- A cost representing the non-financial burden of illness or treatment, such as pain or reduced quality of life, that is hard to value in money.
- Integer ProgrammingConceptInteger Optimisation, Discrete Optimisation
- Integer programming chooses which indivisible health programmes or medicines to fund to maximise health gain, such as QALYs, within a fixed budget.
- Integrated CareTermCare Integration, Joined-Up Care
- A care delivery model coordinating services across different providers, settings, and health system levels for a more seamless patient experience.
- Integrated Delivery NetworkTermIDN, Integrated Health System
- A structure combining hospitals, physician practices, and often insurance functions under common ownership to provide a coordinated care continuum.
- Integrated SystemTermUnified Health System, Integrated Health Model
- A health system model in which financing, delivery, and often insurance functions are unified within a single organisation rather than separate entities.
- Integration TestingTermInterface Testing, Component-Interaction Testing
- A verification technique examining whether different model components, such as a decision tree feeding into a Markov model, work correctly together.
- Intensity GrowthTermRising Care Intensity, Per-Episode Intensification
- An increase in the sophistication or resource intensity of care delivered per episode of illness, independent of changes in patient numbers.
- Intention-to-Treat AnalysisConceptITT Analysis, Intention to Treat
- Intention-to-treat analysis compares outcomes according to participants’ original randomised assignments, irrespective of subsequent treatment receipt or adherence, while explicitly addressing missing outcome data.
- Intention-to-Treat PopulationTermITT Population, Full Analysis Set
- The complete set of trial participants analysed by their original random assignment, regardless of protocol deviations or non-adherence.
- Inter-Rater ReliabilityTermInter-Observer Agreement, Inter-Rater Agreement
- The degree of agreement between two or more independent observers assessing the same phenomenon, commonly quantified using a statistic such as Cohen's kappa.
- InteractionTermStatistical Effect Modification, Joint-Exposure Effect
- A situation where the joint effect of two or more exposures on an outcome differs from what their individual effects would predict.
- Interaction EffectConceptJoint-Parameter Variance
- A difference in one variable’s effect across levels of another variable, defined on a specified outcome and measurement scale.
- InterchangeabilityTermSubstitutability, Product Equivalence
- A general term describing whether one product can be substituted for another with the expectation of producing the same clinical effect.
- Interdisciplinary CareTermInterprofessional Care, Collaborative Team Care
- A delivery model in which providers from different disciplines work together interactively, integrating expertise into a jointly developed care plan.
- Interim AnalysisConceptInterim Look, Mid-Trial Analysis
- A planned analysis of trial data conducted before final completion, typically to assess safety, efficacy, or futility and inform continuation decisions.
- Intermediate OutcomeTermIntermediate Endpoint
- An outcome falling between an immediate biomarker response and a final, definitive outcome such as survival, often used as a surrogate.
- Internal AuditTermInternal Review, In-House Audit
- A review of an organisation's compliance, financial, or operational practices conducted by its own staff, to proactively identify potential issues.
- Internal Consistency ReliabilityConceptCronbach Alpha Reliability, Item Consistency
- A measure of how well different items within an instrument, all meant to assess the same construct, produce correlated results.
- Internal Rate of ReturnTermRate of Return, Discounted Return Rate
- The discount rate at which the net present value of a stream of cash flows equals zero, used to summarise an investment's return.
- Internal Reference PricingTermDomestic Reference Pricing, Therapeutic Class Pricing
- A policy grouping therapeutically similar drugs and setting a single reference reimbursement level, requiring patients to pay any difference for pricier options.
- Internal ValidityTermInternal Correctness, Computational Validity, Internal Consistency, Logical Consistency, Model Internal Coherence
- The extent to which a model's calculations are performed correctly according to its own specified logic, without technical errors.
- Internal Validity AssessmentTermVerification Testing, Internal Verification
- The formal process of testing whether a model's calculations are free from technical errors and function correctly according to its own logic.
- International ComparisonConceptCross-Country Comparison, Cross-National Comparison
- An analysis examining how health outcomes, costs, or policies differ across multiple countries, identifying best practices and system design effects.
- International HealthTermDeveloping-Country Health, Overseas Health
- A traditional field focused on health issues primarily affecting developing countries, emphasising knowledge transfer from wealthier to poorer nations.
- International HTA NetworkTermCross-Border HTA Network, Multinational HTA Network
- A collaborative structure connecting assessment organisations across multiple countries, facilitating information sharing and reduced duplication of effort.