Regulación de los servicios de medicina nuclear: percepción de la problemática y desafíos en Colombia para el abordaje de cáncer

Introduction: Colombia has modified the nuclear medicine norms that impact the administration of iodotherapy in the treatment of thyroid cancer. Objetive: To identify the areas of agreement regarding the problem, present requirements and emergent associated with the normative for the operation of nuclear medicine services that have an impact on the care of patients with thyroid cancer in Colombia. Materials and methods: A two-round Delphi study was conducted for each expert group, clinical, and regulatory. The first round explored views on the implications of the regulations that apply to nuclear medicine. The second round rated the statements from the first round for relevance. Results: The problems of nuclear medicine services are related to normative clarity and the lack of synergy and coherence between inspection, surveillance and control bodies. The demands on the rights management system require a high economic investment that can influence the supply of the service and have an impact on the integral control of thyroid cancer. Among the present and future needs are: unification of the auditors criteria, delimitation of the actual functions, technical assistance to the services to comply with the normative and the oversight of the inspection, surveillance and control bodies by the entities regulatory. Conclusions: The findings of this study suggest that nuclear medicine services are going through a time of multiple institutional, regulatory and economic challenges that put the development and maintenance of nuclear medicine in cancer care at risk.