Blog: Dutch Consortium 2.0

Blog: Dutch Consortium 2.0

Dutch Consortium 2.0: Continuous evaluation of care improves medical decision making and reduces healthcare expenditures.

Strikingly, for half of all medical treatments the effectiveness is unknown. As healthcare costs continue to increase this requires immediate attention. The Dutch Consortium for studies in Obstetrics, Fertility and Gynaecology took up the challenge 10 years ago to evaluate common obstetrical care as a way to improve medical decision making. Starting from an informal collaboration consisting of six hospitals in The Netherlands in 2003, the Consortium is now embraced by the Dutch Society for Obstetrics and Gynecology (NVOG). This is a turning point as the Consortium now has to reach full maturity. This entails not only a professional logistic and financial structure but especially prioritization of effectiveness questions and the integration of guideline development, implementation and validation resulting in continuous evaluation of medical interventions. Ultimately, these goals are united in the aim to increase healthcare outcomes for an important population of our society: mothers and their (future) children.

Our vision is that the main focus of evaluation of care should be to constantly improve medical decision making by making a clear distinction between effective and non-effective treatments. This enhances shared decision making by enabling the doctor to properly inform a patient about the known (and unknown) effectiveness and harms of a treatment in relation to no treatment or other treatments. Moreover, continuous evaluation of medical interventions has the potential to reduce healthcare expenditures. A budget impact analysis of eight studies showed a potential cost reduction of €9,6 million/year, with a one-time investment of €3,1 million.