QALY

Also known as: Quality-Adjusted Life Year

A measure combining length and quality of life used in cost-effectiveness analysis.

Definition

A Quality-Adjusted Life Year is a composite measure combining length and quality of life. 1 QALY = 1 year in perfect health. A treatment that adds 2 years of life at 0.5 quality of life yields 1 QALY. Cost-per-QALY is the central decision metric used by NICE, ICER, and most ex-US HTA bodies.

See also

• NICE — The UK body that decides whether the NHS will reimburse a drug, based on cost-effectiveness.
• HTA — The systematic evaluation of a medicine's clinical and cost-effectiveness for reimbursement decisions.

Other commercial terms

• Biosimilar
• Generic drug
• NICE TA
• ICER (cost)
• WAC
• NADAC