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“Efficacy” vs. “Efficiency”: What’s the Difference?

Jun 9, 2023
Engram
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The difference between “efficacy” and “efficiency”

  • Efficacy is concerned with the potential of a product or intervention to produce the desired result, while efficiency is concerned with how quickly or easily it can be achieved.
  • Efficacy is primarily evaluated under ideal conditions while efficiency deals with performance in real-life situations.
  • While efficacy focuses on performance in clinical trial settings, efficiency deals with practical application in the real world.
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What is the definition of “efficacy” and “efficiency”?

Efficacy
  • Efficacy refers to the ability of a product, treatment or intervention to produce a desired result under ideal conditions.
  • It is the extent to which a particular intervention proves useful in clinical trial settings.
  • Efficacy is measured by how well a product performs in optimal conditions.
Efficiency
  • Efficiency measures the extent to which a product or intervention can achieve the desired results with the least amount of waste, expense or effort.
  • It refers to the ability to accomplish something quickly or to use resources effectively in achieving a goal.
  • Efficiency is a measure of how much work is accomplished in a given period of time or with a set amount of resources.

Which is the more popular variant on the Internet?

“Efficiency” is the more popular variant on the web.
Efficacy
535,000,000 results on the web
Examples
  1. The efficacy of this new medication has been proven by clinical trials.
  2. Increased funding has led to improved efficacy in our production process.
  3. The project's efficacy will be evaluated during the next phase of testing.
More popular
Efficiency
1,110,000,000 results on the web
Examples
  1. Using automation technology has increased the efficiency of our manufacturing process.
  2. The new scheduling system has greatly improved the efficiency of our office.
  3. In order to improve efficiency, we will be implementing a new training program for staff.
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