Reimbursement

Payment for a healthcare product or service by an insurer, government programme or health system.

Example

A diagnostic test becomes widely used once insurers agree to pay for it.

Important

A clinically useful product can still fail commercially without a clear payment route.

Related terms

  • Clinical Trial Phases — The sequential stages of testing a drug candidate in humans, typically Phase I, II and III, before regulatory review for approval.

Lessons that explain it

  • Biotech outcomes are often binary; healthtech outcomes depend on who pays — Biotech value is driven by clinical trials with low overall success rates and long timelines. Healthtech depends on proving clinical or economic value and securing payment from hospitals, insurers or health systems. (13 min)

All 578 terms in the Investing glossary