Dictionary

S

SafetyTermHarm Avoidance, Freedom from Harm

The degree to which an intervention avoids causing unintended harm, assessed through systematic monitoring and reporting of adverse events.

Safety AnalyticsTermSafety Data Analysis, Incident Analytics

The application of data analysis to patient safety data, such as near misses, to proactively identify system vulnerabilities.

Safety ClimateTermSafety Perception, Workplace Safety Perception

A patient safety culture dimension reflecting staff perceptions of how genuinely an organisation prioritises safety, beyond stated policy alone.

Safety CultureTermSafety Mindset, Culture of Safety

The shared values, attitudes, and behaviours within an organisation determining its safety management commitment and proficiency, covering communication and teamwork.

Safety Culture SurveyTermSafety Culture Questionnaire, Safety Climate Survey

A standardised instrument assessing staff perceptions of patient safety culture, covering teamwork, communication openness, and organisational learning.

Safety EvidenceTermSafety Data, Adverse Effect Evidence

Data documenting the adverse effects and overall risk profile of an intervention, generated through trials and ongoing post-market surveillance.

Safety Management HospitalTermHospital Safety Management, Patient Safety System

The overall system of processes a hospital uses to monitor, maintain, and improve patient safety, covering reporting and root cause analysis.

Safety Net ProviderTermSafety-Net Hospital, Essential Community Provider

A provider offering care regardless of ability to pay, disproportionately serving uninsured and low-income populations.

Safety OutcomeTermSafety Endpoint, Adverse Event Outcome

A clinical outcome measure assessing the occurrence, severity, and nature of adverse effects associated with a treatment.

Safety PolicyTermHarm Prevention Policy, Safety Protocol

An organisational policy establishing protocols intended to prevent patient harm, covering medication administration, infection control, and fall prevention.

Safety PopulationTermSafety Analysis Set, Safety Set

The complete set of trial participants who received at least one dose of study treatment, used to assess adverse events regardless of original assignment.

Safety ProfileTermAdverse Effect Profile, Tolerability Profile

The overall characterisation of a drug's potential adverse effects, type, frequency, and severity, established through trial data and post-market surveillance.

Safety ReviewTermSafety Evaluation, Safety Evidence Appraisal

An evaluation of available safety evidence for a technology, typically part of a broader assessment or a response to a safety signal.

Safety SignalTermPharmacovigilance Signal, Adverse Signal

Information from post-marketing surveillance suggesting a possible new or worsened adverse effect, warranting investigation into whether a genuine causal link exists.

SalaryTermSalaried Payment, Fixed Compensation

A fixed compensation arrangement in which a provider receives a predetermined amount regardless of the volume or type of services delivered.

Salience InterventionTermSalience Nudge, Attention Nudge

An intervention that increases the prominence of certain information or features to influence decision-making.

Salvage TherapyTermSalvage Treatment, Late-Line Therapy, Rescue Therapy, Rescue Medication, Bail-Out Treatment

Treatment given to patients whose disease has progressed or failed to respond despite prior standard treatment, typically a later line of therapy.

Sample Size CalculationConceptSample Size Optimisation, Sample Size Optimization

Sample size calculation sets how many participants a trial must analyse to detect a target clinical or economic difference at set power and significance.

Sampling ErrorTermSample Variability, Random Sampling Variation

The difference between a sample statistic and the true population value arising purely from studying a finite sample rather than the whole population.

SanctionTermEnforcement Penalty, Regulatory Action

A penalty imposed on an individual or organisation found to have violated healthcare laws, ranging from fines to programme exclusion.

Sandwich EstimatorConceptHuber-White Estimator, Robust Variance Estimator

The sandwich estimator is a variance formula for regression estimates that stays valid when cost data are heteroskedastic or patients are clustered.

SBARTermSituation Background Assessment Recommendation, Structured Handover

A structured communication framework, Situation, Background, Assessment, and Recommendation, used to standardise how providers exchange critical patient information.

Scale DependenceTermScale Dependency, Additive-Multiplicative Discrepancy

The phenomenon in which the presence or size of a statistical interaction differs depending on whether it is assessed on an additive or multiplicative scale.

Scale EfficiencyTermSize Efficiency, Scale Optimality

A measure of whether a provider is operating at its optimal size, distinct from whether it uses its current scale of inputs efficiently.

Scaled SchoenfeldTermGrambsch-Therneau Test, PH Assumption Test

A diagnostic technique testing the proportional hazards assumption by scaling Schoenfeld residuals by their variance to improve test power.

ScarcityConceptResource Insufficiency, Limited Resources

Scarcity is the condition in which health care resources, such as funding, staff and beds, cannot meet every competing need, so choices must be made.

Scatter PlotTermScatter Diagram, Scattergram, Scatter Chart

A graphical display showing individual data points along two axes, commonly used to plot probabilistic sensitivity analysis results on the cost-effectiveness plane.

Scenario AnalysisConceptScenario Testing, What-If Analysis

Scenario analysis re-runs a health economic model under alternative assumptions, such as another survival extrapolation, to see if the decision changes.

Scenario GenerationTermScenario Construction, Scenario Building, Scenario Definition, Scenario Specification, Assumption Set Definition

The process of constructing alternative assumption combinations for scenario analysis, typically informed by clinical expert input on which choices are genuinely uncertain.

Scheduling ManagementTermAppointment Scheduling, Schedule Coordination

The processes coordinating the timing of appointments, procedures, and staff assignments, optimising resource use while minimising patient wait times.

Schoenfeld ResidualConceptSchoenfeld Test, Cox Residual

A Schoenfeld residual is the observed minus expected covariate value at each event in a Cox model, used to test the proportional hazards assumption.

Scope EfficiencyConceptEconomies of Scope, Scope Economies

Scope efficiency is whether a hospital or health system saves cost by providing several services together instead of in separate, specialised units.

Scope of PracticeTermPractice Scope, Authorised Activities

The specific range of activities a licensed healthcare professional is legally authorised to perform, defined by licensing regulations and varying by provider type.

Scope SensitivityTermScope Test, Sensitivity to Scope

The degree to which a stated valuation rises appropriately with the scale of the good being valued, such as a larger risk reduction.

ScopingTermScope Definition, Scope-Setting Procedure, Boundary-Setting Process

The initial assessment stage in which the specific boundaries, including technology, population, comparators, and outcomes, are formally defined.

Scoping Review HTATermScoping Review, Evidence Mapping

A review mapping the extent and nature of research in a given area, often to identify gaps or judge whether a full review is warranted.

Scoring AlgorithmTermScoring Function, Value Algorithm

The specific formula, derived from a population valuation study, used to convert health status questionnaire responses into a single utility value.

Scree PlotTermScree Diagram, Eigenvalue Plot

A graphical tool in factor analysis plotting eigenvalues in descending order to identify a visible point where they level off.

ScreeningConceptEarly Detection Programme

Screening is the process of identifying apparently healthy people at increased risk of a condition, then offering information, further tests or treatment.

Screening AnalysisTermParameter Screening, Factor Screening

A preliminary sensitivity analysis technique efficiently identifying which of many input parameters meaningfully influence a model's output, for more detailed follow-up analysis.

Screening EconomicsConceptEconomics of Screening, Early-Detection Economics

The economic assessment of a screening programme’s full pathway, comparing its costs, health benefits, harms, budget implications and opportunity costs with feasible alternatives.

Screening in InsuranceTermInsurance Screening, Insurer Self-Selection Menu

A process where an insurer designs a menu of policy options intended to lead individuals to reveal their private risk information through their own choice.

Screening PolicyTermScreening Programme Policy, Screening Governance

Government or health system policy governing which population screening programmes will be offered and funded, informed by health economic evaluation.

Screening ProgrammeTermScreening Program, Population Screening

An organised public health initiative systematically testing an eligible population for early disease signs, before symptoms would otherwise prompt care-seeking.

Screening TheoryConceptScreening Model, Menu Design Theory

Screening theory explains how an insurer or payer that cannot observe risk or cost offers a menu of contracts so each type reveals itself by its choice.

Seamless Trial DesignTermSeamless Phase 2/3 Design, Inferentially Seamless Design

An adaptive design combining traditionally separate phase II and III trials into one continuous study, avoiding an intervening design and startup gap.

Search GoodTermSearch Product, Inspection Good

A good whose quality can be assessed by the consumer before purchase, unlike an experience good evaluated only after consumption.

Search StrategyTermSearch Protocol, Database Search Terms

The specific combination of search terms, database selections, and filters used to identify relevant studies during a literature search.

Second Primary CancerTermSecond Cancer, Second Malignancy

A new, distinct cancer developing in a person with a prior different cancer diagnosis, unlike a recurrence or metastasis of the original.

Second-Line TherapyTermSecond-Line Treatment, 2L Therapy

A treatment used after a patient's first-line treatment has failed to control disease adequately or has been discontinued due to intolerance.