Table 3 Definitions of secondary outcomes
From: Systematic reviews of ten pharmaceutical pricing policies – a research protocol
Term | Operational definition | Measurement unit |
|---|---|---|
Transparency | See price transparency in Table 1. | Qualitative description, as presented in literature |
Efficiency | AHRQ’s definition: Avoiding waste, including waste of equipment, supplies, ideas, and energy. Allocative efficiency: Allocating resources in such a way as to provide the optimal mix of goods and services to maximise the benefits to society Technical efficiency: Using the least amount of resources or the right combination of inputs to produce a given mix of goods and services | As measured and presented in literature or qualitative description, as presented in literature Qualitative measures of process efficiency, e.g. timeliness, resource-intensiveness |
Shortage | EMA’s definition: a shortage of a medicinal product occurs when there are changes to either demand or supply of the medicine, so that clinical need can no longer be met. A medicine shortage causes temporary unavailability. The total stock across all levels of the national supply chain, across all geographical regions, cannot meet demand during a medicine shortage | As measured and presented in literature or qualitative description, as presented in literature |
Quality of pharmaceutical products | Whether products are substandard or falsified (SF) WHO’s definitions: Substandard: Also called “out of specification”, these are authorized medical products that fail to meet either internationally accepted quality standards or specifications, or both. Falsified: Medical products that deliberately/fraudulently misrepresent their identity, composition or source. | Occurrence of SF products |
Safety | IOM’s definition: the prevention of harm to patients | As measured and presented in literature |
Unethical conduct | Business or professional conduct that contravenes social norms or social responsibilities | Qualitative description, as presented in literature |
Illegal conduct | Business or professional conduct that contravenes the law | Qualitative description, as presented in literature |
Equity | Differences in [access or] health that are avoidable and also considered unfair or unjust | Qualitative assessment, including assessing differences in the relative effect size of the intervention; assessing indirectness of evidence to disadvantaged populations and/or settings. |