Dictionary

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Study-Level CovariateTermAggregate Covariate, Trial-Level Covariate

A characteristic recorded at the level of an entire study, such as average patient age, used in meta-regression to explain heterogeneity.

Subcutaneous AdministrationTermSC Administration, Subcutaneous Injection

A route of drug administration involving injection into the fatty tissue beneath the skin, often suitable for patient self-administration at home.

Subgroup AnalysisConceptSubgroup Assessment, Subpopulation Analysis

Subgroup analysis estimates treatment effects, costs or cost-effectiveness separately for defined groups of patients to test whether they differ.

Subgroup Cost-EffectivenessTermSubgroup CEA, Stratified Cost-Effectiveness

An estimate of an intervention's ICER calculated for a specific patient subgroup rather than for the overall study population.

Submission DossierTermAssessment Dossier, Submission Package

A comprehensive document presenting clinical and economic evidence supporting a new technology, submitted to an assessment body or regulator.

Submission PreparationTermDossier Preparation, Submission Development

The process of compiling and formatting the comprehensive clinical, non-clinical, and manufacturing data required for a regulatory marketing application.

Subscription PricingTermSubscription Model, Netflix Model

A payment model in which a payer pays a fixed periodic fee for essentially unlimited treatment access, rather than paying per unit or patient.

Subsequent Generic EntryTermLater Generic Entry, Multiple Generic Entry

The entry of additional generic competitors following the first, typically bringing further price declines as competition among manufacturers intensifies.

SubsidyTermPublic Support, Government Grant

A government payment made to producers or consumers to encourage the production or consumption of a particular good or service.

Substance Abuse PolicyTermSubstance Misuse Policy, Illicit Drug Policy

Government policy addressing substance use disorders and their consequences, covering prevention, treatment funding, and harm reduction initiatives.

Substance Use DisorderTermSUD, Addiction

A condition marked by an inability to control use of a substance despite significant harmful consequences, including dependence on alcohol, opioids, or other drugs.

Substance Use EconomicsTermEconomics of Substance Use, Addiction Economics

The application of health economic evaluation to substance use disorders broadly, covering prevention, medication-assisted treatment, and behavioural therapy.

Substituted JudgmentTermSubstituted Judgement, Proxy Judgment

A decision standard for a surrogate acting for a patient lacking capacity, choosing what the patient themselves would have chosen based on known values.

Substitution EffectTermSubstitution Response, Relative-Price Effect

The change in quantity of a good consumed that results purely from a change in its relative price, holding purchasing power constant.

SUCRAConceptSurface Under the Cumulative Ranking Curve, Cumulative Ranking Probability

SUCRA, the surface under the cumulative ranking curve, is a 0 to 1 score of how highly a treatment ranks across all ranks in a network meta-analysis.

Suicide PreventionTermSuicide Risk Reduction, Self-Harm Prevention

Interventions and policies reducing suicide incidence, covering crisis hotlines, means restriction policies, and targeted clinical care for at-risk individuals.

Suits IndexConceptSuits Progressivity Index, Tax Progressivity Index

The Suits index measures how progressive a tax or health financing source is by comparing cumulative payment shares with cumulative income shares.

Sullivan MethodConceptSullivan Approach, Prevalence-Based Life Expectancy

The Sullivan method estimates health expectancy, such as healthy life expectancy, by weighting life-table person-years by age-specific health prevalence.

Summary of BenefitsTermSBC, Coverage Summary Document

A standardised document presenting a plan's key coverage terms, costs, and benefits in a concise, comparable format for consumers.

Summary ROC CurveConceptSROC, Summary Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve, HSROC Curve

A summary ROC (SROC) curve pools diagnostic accuracy studies to show how a test's sensitivity trades off against specificity across positivity thresholds.

Summative EvaluationTermOutcome Evaluation, Summative Assessment

An evaluation conducted after a programme has been fully implemented, intended to assess its overall effectiveness and inform a final judgement.

Sunk CostTermUnrecoverable Cost, Retrospective Cost

A cost that has already been incurred and cannot be recovered regardless of future decisions.

Sunset ClauseTermExpiry Clause, Time-Limited Provision

A provision within a managed entry agreement specifying a defined expiration date, after which the arrangement automatically ends unless renewed.

Superiority TrialTermSuperiority Study, Superiority Design

A trial designed to show a new treatment produces a better outcome than its comparator, unlike a non-inferiority or equivalence trial.

Supplemental BudgetTermSupplementary Budget, Additional Appropriation

An additional budget allocation approved after the original budget cycle, usually to cover unforeseen spending needs beyond the original appropriation.

Supplementary BenefitsTermSupplementary Cover, Add-On Benefits

Additional healthcare services covered beyond a health system's core essential benefits package, often through supplementary insurance or extra cost.

Supplementary Protection CertificateTermCertificate of Supplementary Protection, Drug Patent Extension

Additional EU intellectual property protection extending a patented drug's effective market exclusivity to compensate for time lost during regulatory review.

Supplier-Induced DemandConceptSID, Provider-Induced Demand

Supplier-induced demand (SID) is use of health care that providers create through their information advantage, beyond what informed patients would choose.

SupplyConceptProvision of Goods

Supply is the amount of a good or service, such as health care, that producers are willing and able to provide at each price over a given period.

Supply Chain Management HealthTermHealthcare Supply Chain Management, Health Logistics

The processes involved in sourcing, procuring, and distributing medical supplies and pharmaceuticals, ensuring reliable availability while managing costs.

Supply CurveTermSupply Schedule, Supply Function

A graph showing the relationship between price and the quantity producers are willing to supply, typically sloping upward as price rises.

Supply PriceTermSupply-Side Price, Producer Ask Price

The minimum price at which a producer is willing to sell a given quantity of a good or service.

Supply-Side ControlTermSupply-Side Measure, Provider-Side Control

Cost containment strategies targeting provider behaviour directly, such as utilisation review, unlike demand-side controls targeting patient incentives.

Supportive TherapyTermSupportive Treatment, Symptom-Directed Therapy

Treatment managing the symptoms and side effects of an underlying condition or its primary treatment, rather than treating the disease itself.

Surge Capacity CostTermSurge Cost, Capacity Surge Cost

The expense of maintaining a health system's ability to rapidly expand service capacity in response to a sudden demand increase.

Surgery EconomicsTermSurgical Economics, Economics of Surgery, Urology Economics, Economics of Urology, Urological Economics

The broad application of health economic evaluation to surgical procedures across specialties, comparing surgical against non-surgical alternatives and comparing techniques.

Surgical Care ImprovementTermSCIP, Perioperative Care Bundle

A quality improvement initiative reducing preventable surgical complications through adherence to defined evidence-based care processes, such as antibiotic timing.

Surgical SafetyTermSafe Surgery, Perioperative Safety

A patient safety dimension focused on preventing harm during surgery, covering structured checklists, antibiotic timing, and surgical team communication.

Surgical TherapyTermOperative Therapy, Surgical Treatment

Treatment involving a surgical procedure to address a medical condition, unlike pharmacological or other non-surgical treatment approaches.

SurplusTermWelfare Gain, Net Benefit to Society

An excess of revenue over spending within a budget period, representing funds that can be saved, reinvested, or returned.

Surprise BillingTermSurprise Medical Bill, Unexpected Bill

A situation where a patient receives an unexpected bill from an out-of-network provider, most commonly during emergency care.

Surrogate Decision-MakerTermSubstitute Decision-Maker, Patient Representative

An individual authorised to make healthcare decisions on behalf of a patient lacking the capacity to make their own.

Surrogate EndpointConceptSurrogate Outcome, Surrogate Marker

A surrogate endpoint is a biomarker or intermediate outcome used in trials and HTA to stand in for and predict a patient-relevant outcome such as survival.

Surrogate EvidenceTermBiomarker-Based Evidence, Intermediate-Marker Evidence

Data based on an intermediate biomarker used as a substitute for a direct measure of clinical benefit, when final outcome data are unavailable.

Survey DataTermQuestionnaire Data, Survey Responses

Information collected by directly asking individuals structured questions about their characteristics, behaviour, or experiences, typically through an interview or questionnaire.

Survival AnalysisConceptSurvival Methods, Time-to-Event Analysis

Survival analysis is the statistical study of time to an event such as death when follow-up is incomplete, giving survival curves for economic models.

Survival FunctionConceptSurvivor Function, Survivorship Function

The survival function, S(t), is the probability that a patient stays alive or free of a defined event beyond time t, used to model life years and QALYs.

Survival RegressionConceptTime-to-Event Regression, Survival Model

Survival regression estimates how treatment and patient characteristics change the hazard of, or time to, death or progression in censored data for HTA.

SurvivorshipTermLife After Cancer, Post-Treatment Phase, Cancer Survivor, Post-Treatment Patient

The state of living with, through, and beyond a cancer diagnosis, covering the period from diagnosis onward regardless of ongoing treatment.

Survivorship CareTermPost-Cancer Care, Cancer Aftercare

Healthcare services and support provided after completing active treatment for a serious illness, addressing surveillance and late treatment effects.