Table 1 Definitions of terms
Terms | Description |
|---|---|
CEA | Cost-effectiveness analysis: Achieving more of the outcome for the same cost or achieving the same outcome for less cost, expressed in incremental benefits on Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALY), or incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) |
CUA | Cost-utility analysis: Similar to CEA but for multiple outcome measures in quality-of-life units (QoL) |
CBA | Cost–benefit analysis: Financial expression of costs and benefits from a programme in a cost–benefit ratio (CBR) |
CBA is the basis for ROI and SROI; CBA and SROI are societal perspectives, ROI is managerial/investor focused | |
ROI | Return on Investment: Expression of costs and benefits from a programme expressed in an ROI metric |
SROI | Social Return on Investment: Expression of costs and benefits from a programme expressed in a ROI metric |
Includes benefits for society, environment and others. Engages various stakeholders in the calculation process | |
Value | Any outcome seen to be of importance, utility, or usefulness [46] |
Benefit | Any outcome that produces useful, helpful, or advantageous outcomes (Cambridge Dictionary, 2022) |
Outcome | A result or consequence of an action or process (Merriam Webster, 2022) |
QI methods | Main QI methods include PDSA, Lean, Six-Sigma, Lean-Six Sigma, Audit & Feedback [47,48,49] |
LARGE-SCALE QI | Programmes for whole or a large part of an organisation, or local, regional, national, or international collaboratives that combine clinical, strategic, workforce and organisational elements into a coherent quality improvement process to improve safety, capability, and capacity of an organisation [10, 50] |
COLLABORATIVE | A QI collaborative (QIC) brings together multidisciplinary teams from different organisations and agencies to test solutions and share learning in a specific clinical or operational area [51] |
HEALTHCARE ORGANISATION | (UK) A unique framework of authority within which a person or persons act or are designated to act towards some purpose as a direct provider of healthcare services (preventative, curative, rehabilitative, or palliative). Includes Local Authorities with Social care working in cooperation with the NHS [52] |