Impact of the clinical laboratory on health-care expenditures in Argentina.

This article describes how the Argentinian health-care system is organized and funded, and how it has developed. The provision of laboratory services in Argentina is the result of a unique approach involving negotiations between health-care organizations and professional associations. As a result, the professional associations, such as the Buenos Aires Province biochemists' federation, wield considerable economic power. This paper describes the roles played by biochemists and physicians, and how these and other professionals are remunerated. The attempts of the government to legislate the health-care system are discussed.