In this guide
Key takeaways
- ReTHUS is Colombia's official register of health professionals who meet the legal requirements to practice. It also records reported disciplinary sanctions. You'll need the doctor's ID number to search it.
- REPS is the Ministry of Health's register of licensed providers and the specific services each one is cleared to offer. Check that the clinic and the service you're booking are both listed.
- Under Decree 2493 of 2004, tissue and bone marrow banks must be non-profit and hold an INVIMA good-practices certificate. Ask which bank or lab produced your cells.
- If a clinic says its product or study is authorized, ask for the INVIMA document number and check it.
- A clean registry record shows a provider is legally operating. It doesn't show that a treatment works.
Clinic websites love badges: “certified,” “accredited,” “licensed lab,” “INVIMA-approved.” Some of those claims are accurate and some are stretched. Colombia's health system keeps several official records that let you check the basics yourself: whether a doctor is registered to practice, whether a facility is licensed for the service it's selling, and where cell products come from. This guide walks through each check. It's a hands-on companion to our broader clinic accreditation guide.
Why a website badge isn't enough
Badges and certificates on a website are self-reported. A logo can be out of date, belong to a hospital the clinic merely rents space from, or relate to a different service entirely. A registry entry is maintained by an authority. When the two don't match, the registry wins.
There's another reason to check. Colombia allows some cell-based treatments that the US doesn't, which is part of why people travel. That makes it more important, not less, to confirm that the people and places involved are operating within Colombian rules. If you're unsure what “INVIMA-approved” can actually mean for a stem cell product, read INVIMA regulation: what patients should know first.
Check the doctor: ReTHUS
ReTHUS (Registro Único Nacional del Talento Humano en Salud) is the official register of health workers who meet the legal requirements to practice in Colombia. Under Law 1164 of 2007, anyone who wants to practice a health profession must be registered. Guidance from Bogotá's health secretariat notes that the register also records disciplinary sanctions reported by the relevant authorities, and that specialties must be added to a professional's record (Secretaría Distrital de Salud de Bogotá).
- Ask for the doctor's full name and IDThe public lookup on the SISPRO system searches by ID document type and number. For Colombian doctors, that's usually the cédula de ciudadanía. A clinic that's proud of its physicians will share this.
- Run the public lookupUse the Ministry of Health's ReTHUS public search (Consulta pública de talento humano en salud) on the SISPRO website, choose the document type, and enter the number.
- Read the result carefullyConfirm that the profession is medicina and that any specialty the clinic advertises, such as orthopedics, physiatry or anesthesiology, appears on the record. Check for any sanction notes.
- Watch for foreign titlesA doctor trained abroad needs their degree recognized (convalidado) by Colombia's Ministry of Education to practice. Ask about it if the bio lists only foreign credentials.
The doctor in the marketing video isn't always the one who treats you. Ask, in writing, who will perform each step: harvest, processing oversight, injection or infusion. Then check each physician.
Check the facility: REPS
REPS (Registro Especial de Prestadores de Servicios de Salud) is the register of health providers cleared to operate in Colombia's health system. According to the Ministry of Health, it's compiled from the departmental and district health secretariats, which collect each provider's self-assessment and registration. It records the type of provider, its locations (sedes), and the specific services it's cleared (habilitado) to offer, by complexity and modality (MinSalud). The current licensing standards come from Resolution 3100 of 2019.
How to use it:
- Get the clinic's legal name (razón social) and tax ID (NIT). These often differ from the brand name on the website.
- Search the Ministry of Health's REPS habilitation portal (prestadores.minsalud.gov.co) for the provider, or ask the clinic to send its REPS registration code and certificate.
- Confirm the address where you'll be treated is a registered location, not just the company's head office.
- Confirm the services you're booking appear for that location. A clinic registered for outpatient consultations alone may not be cleared for procedures involving sedation or surgical harvests.
- If anything is unclear, the health secretariat for the department or district where the clinic operates can confirm a provider's status.
Procedures should happen at a registered location. If a provider proposes giving an infusion or injection somewhere that doesn't appear in REPS, such as a hotel room, rental apartment or “partner spa,” treat that as a serious red flag.
Check where the cells come from
The cells in a stem cell treatment come from somewhere: your own fat or bone marrow, or donated tissue such as umbilical cord. Colombia's Decree 2493 of 2004 governs human organs, tissues and cells (componentes anatómicos). Three of its provisions are directly useful to patients:
INVIMA good-practices certificate
Tissue and bone marrow banks must hold an INVIMA certificate of good practices and sanitary conditions. INVIMA inspects them.
Banks can't be for-profit
The decree requires tissue and bone marrow banks to be non-profit. That's a fair question if a clinic says it runs its own “bank.”
Donation isn't paid
Paying for organ or tissue donation is prohibited, though certain processing, testing and transport costs can be recovered.
How lab-expanded cell products fit into this framework is genuinely complex, and some products may be regulated through other routes. Don't try to settle that yourself. Instead, ask the clinic to name the lab or bank that produced the cells and send the INVIMA document that authorizes that facility. Then ask for the batch's certificate of analysis. Our guides to stem cell lab certification questions and donor screening list what those documents should show.
Check any product or study claim
INVIMA keeps two public tools that are useful here:
- Consulta de registros sanitarios. If a clinic says its product has an INVIMA sanitary registration (registro sanitario), ask for the number and look it up. Check that the product name, holder and approved use match what you're being sold.
- Buscador de Estudios Clínicos. If treatment is described as part of an authorized study, look up the protocol by name or filing number. Each record shows the authorizing acta and the sponsor. Our trial lookup guide walks through it.
A clinic that says “INVIMA-approved” but can't give you a document number for any of these is making a claim you can't verify. Ask what, specifically, is approved: the facility, the lab, the product, or the study.
Questions to send before you book
Send these in one email. The answers, or the lack of them, will tell you a lot.
- People: Who will perform each step, and what are their full names and ReTHUS-registered specialties?
- Place: What's the clinic's legal name, NIT and REPS code, and is my procedure a registered service at the address where I'll be treated?
- Cell source: Exactly what cells will I receive, from what tissue, and from which lab or bank? What INVIMA authorization covers that facility?
- Processing: What testing is done on each batch (sterility, identity, viability), and will I get the certificate of analysis for my batch?
- Consent: Can I see the consent form before I pay? Does it state that the treatment is unproven for my condition?
- Adverse-event plan: Who do I contact after I fly home, how fast will they respond, and how do you record and report complications?
- Evidence: What published evidence supports this treatment for my condition, and do you track outcomes for every patient?
What a clean record can't tell you
Passing every check above means you're dealing with a registered doctor at a licensed facility using cells from a certified source. That's a real baseline, and it filters out a lot of risk. But it doesn't mean the treatment will work for you, or that it's proven for your condition. A fully licensed clinic can still offer an experimental treatment, and the evidence question is separate. For that, see the ISSCR's guidance for patients and the FDA's approved list, and bring your own doctor into the decision.
Registry tools can also be clunky, change their web addresses, or return incomplete results. If a lookup fails, don't assume the worst. Ask the clinic to send the certificate and verify it with the issuing authority.
Frequently asked questions
How do I check if a doctor in Colombia is licensed?
Use the ReTHUS public lookup on the Ministry of Health's SISPRO system. It searches by ID document type and number, so ask the clinic for the doctor's cédula number. Confirm the profession, any advertised specialty and whether any sanctions appear.
What is REPS in Colombia?
REPS (Registro Especial de Prestadores de Servicios de Salud) is the register of licensed health providers. It lists each provider's locations and the specific services it's cleared to offer. It's compiled by the Ministry of Health from departmental and district health secretariats.
Does INVIMA approve stem cell clinics?
INVIMA's roles include certifying good practices at tissue and bone marrow banks, issuing sanitary registrations for products and authorizing clinical research protocols. Clinics themselves are licensed through REPS. Ask a clinic exactly what INVIMA document it holds and verify it.
Can a stem cell clinic run its own cell bank in Colombia?
Under Decree 2493 of 2004, tissue and bone marrow banks must be non-profit and hold an INVIMA good-practices certificate. Ask which bank or lab produced your cells and request its authorization.
If a clinic passes all these checks, is the treatment proven?
No. Registry checks confirm that a provider is legally operating, not that a treatment works. Evidence for your condition is a separate question to research with your own doctor.
Want a second set of eyes on a clinic?
Send us what a clinic has told you. We'll talk through your options, including what to verify, what to ask and whether the treatment fits your situation.
Talk through your options →Sources
- Cápsula 11: Estándar de Talento Humano (ReTHUS and habilitation) — Secretaría Distrital de Salud de Bogotá
- Caracterización del Registro Especial de Prestadores de Servicios de Salud (REPS) — Ministerio de Salud y Protección Social de Colombia
- Decreto 2493 de 2004 (componentes anatómicos) — Ministerio de Salud y Protección Social de Colombia
- INVIMA home page: consulta de registros sanitarios and alertas sanitarias — INVIMA (Colombia)
- Buscador de Estudios Clínicos — INVIMA (Colombia)
This article is general information, not medical advice, and it does not replace an evaluation by a licensed physician who knows your history. Most stem cell treatments discussed on this site are not approved by the FDA or proven in completed clinical trials for the conditions they are marketed for; outcomes are not guaranteed and risks are real. Regulations and registry tools change, so confirm details with the official sources linked above. Colombia Stem Cell Treatment is an independent information site, not a clinic. If you ask us to, we may share your inquiry with providers, who may compensate our network for introductions; see our terms for details. No affiliate links appear in this article.