Design and implementation of a stakeholder consultation process for rapid health technology assessments in Argentina.

Introduction: Health technology assessment (HTA) is a standardized methodology that allows the assessment technologies' value. By incorporating the perspective of stakeholders in a public consultation process, transparency and quality of decisions can be improved.

Objective: To describe the active stakeholder consultation process for rapid HTAs in an Argentinean, independent, academic, non-profit HTA agency, assessing its initial five years.

[Judicialization of high priced medications in Argentina: quali-quantitative study].

Introduction: The economic consequences of mandatory coverage, through judicial means, of high-priced medications constitutes a growing problem, which merits knowing its local characteristics to provide possible solutions.

Objective: To identify medications, diseases involved, economic impact and contextual factors of the judicialization of high-priced medications in the Argentine Health System(MEP).

Methods: Quali-quantitative descriptive study that retrospectively analyzed legal protection resources by MEP from three national and provincial databases from January 2017 to December 2020, evaluating the existing relationship between lawsuits with regulatory approval, inclusion in benefit packages and relationship with journalistic articles for the three most frequently prosecuted drugs.

Toward the Implementation of a Value Framework for Diagnostic Technologies: Operationalization, Piloting, and Validation in Latin America.

Objectives: In 2020, a group of 30 stakeholders from Latin America established 15 criteria for a diagnostic technologies value framework (D-VF) to help assess and inform decisions on diagnostic technologies. This article aims to present the operationalization, piloting, and initial validation of the framework for its implementation.

Methods: This work was carried out collaboratively with a variety of stakeholders.

A Systematic Review of Value Criteria for Next-Generation Sequencing/Comprehensive Genomic Profiling to Inform Value Framework Development.

Objectives: To comprehensively identify and map an exhaustive list of value criteria for the assessment of next-generation sequencing/comprehensive genomic profiling (NGS/CGP), to be used as an aid in decision making.

Methods: We conducted a systematic review to identify existing value frameworks (VFs) applicable to any type of healthcare technology. VFs and criteria were mapped to a previously published Latin American (LA) VF to harmonize definitions and identify additional criteria and or subcriteria.

Deliberative processes in decision making informed by health technology assessment in Latin America.

Objective: The objective of Health Technology Assessment International's 6th Latin America Policy Form, held in 2021, was to explore the implementation of deliberative processes in the framework of health technology assessment (HTA) and how agencies in the region could involve stakeholders in this process.

Methods: This paper is based on a preparatory survey, a background document, and the deliberative work of participants at the virtual Forum conducted in 2021. There were ninety-one participants in the open session and fifty-two in the closed sessions, representing twelve countries and diverse areas of the health sector.

Evidence-Informed Update of Argentina's Health Benefit Package: Application of a Rapid Review Methodology.

Objectives: Argentina has a fragmented healthcare system with social security covering almost two thirds of the population. Its benefit package-called compulsory medical program (PMO; by its Spanish acronym Programa Médico Obligatorio)-has not been formally and widely updated since 2005. However, laws, clinical practice guidelines (CPGs), and a high-cost technology reimbursement fund complement it.

[Mecanismos de identificación y priorización de las tecnologías sanitarias a ser evaluadas por las Agencias de ETESA para decisiones de cobertura en Latino America].

Objetivo: Ningún sistema de salud cuenta con los recursos necesarios para evaluar todas las tecnologías. Contar con un proceso claro para priorizar qué tecnologías serán evaluadas por las agencias de evaluación de tecnologías sanitarias (ETESA) constituye un principio de buena práctica reconocido a nivel internacional. El objetivo del Foro de Políticas en Latino América (LatamPF) 2020 de Health Technology Assessment International fue explorar cómo puede mejorarse la forma en que las agencias de ETESA de Latino América identifican y priorizan las tecnologías a ser evaluadas.

Identification and selection of health technologies for assessment by agencies in support of reimbursement decisions in Latin America.

Objective: There is no health system that has the resources to evaluate all technologies. The presence of a clear process to prioritize health technologies for assessment by health technology assessment (HTA) agencies is a good practice principle recognized at the international level. The objective of Health Technology Assessment International's 2020 Latin American Policy Forum (LatamPF) was to explore how to improve the way HTA agencies in Latin America identify and prioritize technologies for assessment.

A Value Framework for the Assessment of Diagnostic Technologies: A Proposal Based on a Targeted Systematic Review and a Multistakeholder Deliberative Process in Latin America.

Objectives: there are very few value frameworks (VFs) to assess health technologies that are focused on diagnostic tests; they usually do not reflect a multistakeholder process; and they are all developed in high-income countries. Our project performed a targeted systematic review, with the objective of proposing an evidence-based, up-to-date VF informed by a multinational multistakeholder group working in the health technology assessment (HTA) space.

Methods: (1) A targeted systematic review, with the aim to identify existing VFs and their dimensions; and (2) generation a VF proposal through a mixed-methods, qualitative-quantitative approach.

[Epidemiology, resource use and costs of rheumatoid arthritis in Argentina].

This review aims to identify information on epidemiological parameters and estimate the cost of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA). A search for related literature was carried out in major databases. A consensus of local rheumatology experts was used to find the most realistic parameters, using a modified Delphi method.

[Mortality and recurrence of venous thromboembolic disease in adult patients: prospective cohort].

Introduction: Venous thromboembolic disease (VTE) is a pathology that increases with age. RESULTS: 446 patients were included, 63% (292) were older than 65 years. Survival was lower in the elderly compared to the young (p 0.

[Vínculo Entre La Evaluación De Tecnologías Sanitarias y La Toma De Decisión Para La Asignación De Recursos Sanitarios en Latino-América].

Objetivos: Un vínculo claro entre la evaluación y la toma de decisión constituye un principio de buena práctica en evaluación de tecnologías sanitarias (ETESA) reconocido a nivel internacional. El objetivo del Foro de Políticas en Latino-América (LatamPF) 2019 de Health Technology Assessment International fue explorar los diferentes modelos que vinculan la ETESA y la toma de decisión y discutir su potencial aplicabilidad en Latino-América.

MÉtodos: Este manuscrito está basado en un documento base y en el trabajo deliberativo realizado por los miembros (54 participantes, 12 países) que asistieron al LatamPF, a través de la metodología design thinking.

The link between health technology assessment and decision making for the allocation of health resources in Latin America.

Objective: One of the good practice principles for health technology assessment (HTA) is having a clear link between the assessment and decision making. The objective of the 2019 Latin American Policy Forum (LatamPF) of Health Technology Assessment International was to explore different models of connection between HTA and decision making and to discuss the potential applicability of such models in Latin America.

Methods: This paper is based on a background document and the deliberations of the members of the LatamPF (fifty-four participants from twelve countries) where a design-thinking methodology was used.

Patient-Rated Wrist Evaluation: Spanish Version and Evaluation of Its Psychometric Properties in Patients with Acute Distal Radius Fracture.

 The purpose of this paper is to validate a Spanish version of patient-rated wrist evaluation (PRWE) and evaluate its psychometric attributes in a population of patients with distal radius fracture.  A translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the PRWE to Spanish (PRWE-S) was performed according to standardized guidelines. A total of 50 patients with a distal radius fracture were included during the different steps of the study.

Radius Core Decompression for Kienböck Disease Stage IIIA: Outcomes at 13 Years Follow-Up.

Purpose: This study was designed to analyze the long-term clinical and radiological outcomes of a series of patients with Kienböck disease stage IIIA treated with radius core decompression.

Methods: This retrospective study included 15 patients with Kienböck disease (Lichtman stage IIIA) who underwent distal radius metaphyseal core decompression between 1998 and 2005 and who were followed-up for at least 10 years. At the last follow-up, the patients were evaluated for wrist range of motion and grip strength.

Delayed Repair of Ulnar Artery at the Distal Forearm.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the rate of patency after delayed repair of the ulnar artery following primary ligation. Adult patients with primary ligation of the injured ulnar artery at the forearm who had a delayed repair of the artery were included. Postoperative arterial patency was determined by either physical examination or color Doppler ultrasonographic imaging.

The use of dynamic orthoses in the treatment of the stiff elbow.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the outcomes of the treatment of stiff elbow with the use of dynamic orthoses. We included 30 patients with stiff elbow with an arc of mobility of 100° or less and a stable and congruent joint without heterotopic ossifications. The dynamic orthosis was designed in our service and consists of an articulated brace with springs.

Posterior minimally invasive plate osteosynthesis for humeral shaft fractures.

Fractures of the humeral shaft are common. Most of them can be successfully treated without surgery. In some cases, an operative intervention may offer faster and better functional results.

Chronic scapholunate dissociation: ligament reconstruction combining a new extensor carpi radialis longus tenodesis and a dorsal intercarpal ligament capsulodesis.

Scapholunate dissociation (SLD) is the commonest cause of carpal instability and wrist osteoarthrosis. The value of early diagnosis and treatment of this injury is well established in the literature. When a partial or total rupture of the scapholunate ligament is treated with early anatomic reduction and repair, functional results may be good to excellent.

Four-corner arthrodesis: influence of the position of the lunate on postoperative wrist motion: a cadaveric study.

Purpose: Evaluate the influence of the position of the lunate on postoperative wrist motion in four-corner arthrodesis.

Methods: Six upper cadaveric limbs were evaluated, comparing the total arc of motion in each wrist after simulating four-corner arthrodesis. The lunate was fixed in 3 different positions: neutral (0 degrees ), extended (30 degrees ), and flexed (20 degrees ).