VALUE FRAMEWORKS FOR DIAGNOSTIC TECHNOLOGIES IN LATIN AMERICA
INTRODUCTION VIDEO VALUE FRAMEWORKS FOR DIAGNOSTIC TECHNOLOGIES IN LATIN AMERICA
A value framework is a set of characteristics that a health technology has (a drug, interventions or medical devices), attributes that are considered when deciding whether to decide to incorporate or exclude a technology from benefit packages or coverage of a health system. A value framework then tries to communicate, transparently and explicitly, what are the dimensions that are important for making that decision. In general, they reflect the preferences or values of the different actors involved in the construction and use of the technology.
When decision makers evaluate drugs, they usually analyze the supporting clinical trials and mainly consider three factors: their effectiveness, their safety, and economic aspects such as cost-effectiveness and budgetary impact. But with diagnostic methods (from techniques to measure blood glucose or early detection of cancer to rapid tests for COVID-19), the analysis is more complex: direct evidence on its effect on the health of patients is not widely available to determine the clinical value of such diverse tools and justify their inclusion in a portfolio of benefits, for example, ministries, prepaid and social works.
In 2020 the IECS led a project that sought to identify and rank the variables, aspects, dimensions or attributes that should be considered when evaluating diagnostic tests in the Latin American context. Then, IECS developed the first value framework for diagnostic tests, a tool with practical anchoring to the reality of the region that aims to legitimize and make transparent decision-making in the region.
This project had the collaboration of more than 30 participants from the area of health technology assessment, decision-makers and funders of the Latin American health systems, producers of diagnostic technologies, health professionals and patients, actors who contributed their vision and perspective for the definition of the dimensions to be assessed in a diagnostic technology.
On this web page, you will find information related to the role of value frameworks in decision-making processes on evidence-guided health technologies in health systems, and specifically, on the particularities of diagnostic technologies when they are subjected to this process. You will also find the components of the value framework developed for diagnostic technologies in Latin America (in Spanish, Portuguese and English) and a description of the collaborative process through which this framework was designed.
The research project that led to the development of the value framework was funded through an independent and unrestricted grant from Roche.
Staff
General coordinator (IECS): Prof. Dr. Federico Augustovski
Project manager: Dra. Verónica Alfie
Research team (IECS): Lic. Fernando Argento, Dr. Roberto Klappenbach, Dra. Andrea Alcaraz, Dr. Sebastian García Martí, Dr. Agustín Ciapponi, Prof. Dr. Andres Pichon-Riviere
Steering committe 2019-2020:
- Augustovski Federico, Departamento de Evaluación de Tecnologías Sanitarias y Economía de la Salud; Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria (IECS-CONICET)
- Canuto Santos Vania C., Departamento de Gestión e Incorporación de Tecnologías en Salud – Secretaría de Ciencia, Tecnología e Insumos Estratégicos del Ministerio de Salud Brasil
- Gouvêa Carlos, Câmara Brasileira de Diagnóstico Laboratorial – CBDL – Brasil
- López Analía, – Ministerio de Salud y Desarrollo Social. Jefatura de Gabinete – Argentina
- Robayo, Adriana- Instituto de Evaluación Tecnológica en Salud, Colombia
Steering committe 2020-2021:
- Augustovski Federico, Director, Departamento de Evaluación de Tecnologías Sanitarias y Economía de la Salud; Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria (IECS-CONICET)
- Espinoza Manuel – Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile
- Gouvea Carlos – Alianza Latinoamericana para el Desarrollo del Diagnóstico In Vitro, Brasil
- Robayo García Adriana María – Instituto de Evaluación Tecnológica en Salud, Colombia
- Ruiz Castilla Eva María -Latin American Patients Academy
- Santos Marisa -Instituto Nacional de Cardiología, Brasil
- Torales Santiago -Ministerio de Salud Argentina