9 July 2021

Data and information are central to understanding the current coverage and quality of health systems. Without an evidence-based approach, policies and practice may be inefficient or ineffective, which could mean that, ultimately, people do not get the care they need. While there are many tools to evaluate and generate evidence about specific aspects of a health system, there is no standard way to evaluate both integration and readiness for a therapy at a system level.

To address this gap in radioligand therapy, The Health Policy Partnership, supported by the International Expert Advisory Group, developed the Radioligand Therapy Readiness Assessment Framework. The framework builds on the work of Professor Rifat Atun and Professor Brandon Maser, and covers five domains which form the backbone of a health system: governance, regulation and reimbursement, identified need, service delivery, and health information.

The framework is a robust tool which can be used to assess the level of integration of radioligand therapy into the health system as well as future readiness for the approach. We developed the framework using the grounded theory method: we created a framework, piloted it in the UK and US, and updated it based on our findings. This ensures that the framework itself is evidence based.

We have built the framework with adaptation in mind, to provide flexibility for the evolving landscape of cancer care and account for differences between national health systems. We warmly welcome any interested parties to adapt our international framework and apply it to their own contexts. Please see our user guide for assistance.

Oriana Carswell, Project Officer at The Health Policy Partnership