Twelve projects awarded under the 2023 open round of the Efficiency Research program

Since 1999, the Efficiency Research program of the Dutch Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw) has been funding research into effectiveness in relation to the costs of non-pharmaceutical care. The studies provide knowledge about which care has added value and which care should not be applied. The studies within Efficiency Research program involve a comparison of one (or more) interventions (diagnostics, surgical interventions, paramedical care, and the application of medical devices) with standard care in the Netherlands, the effectiveness of which is known, or in relation to pending policy. They also include evaluation of interventions that are considered standard care, but for which the effectiveness has not been established yet.

In 2020, the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport made €48,7 million available to extend the program for the period of 2022 to 2026.

At the beginning of July 2022, 12 projects were awarded under the 2023 Open Round of the Efficiency Research program:

• Optimizing imaging for very early detection of arthritis – studying the cost-effectiveness, accuracy, and patient friendliness of a short MRI protocol;
• TWIN Cerclage – TWINC study of the effectiveness of cerclage for the reduction of extremely preterm birth and perinatal mortality in twin pregnancies with a short cervix;
• Optimization of pancreatic cyst surveillance to detect pancreatic cancer;
• Primary care diagnostics or diagnostics in a memory clinic in older persons with memory complaints – a long-term cost-effectiveness trial with non-inferiority design;
• Multi-parametric MRI in patients suspected of muscle invasive bladder cancer: a new local staging paradigm;
• Preventing recurrent “idiopathic” acute pancreatitis through laparoscopic cholecystectomy (PICUS-2): a multicenter randomized trial;
• Safe, effective, and cost-effective oxygen saturation targets for children and adolescents with respiratory distress: a randomized controlled trial;
• Higher, faster, better: a study on (cost-) effectiveness of transcranial magnetic stimulation in treatment-resistant depression;
• Cost-effectiveness of contingency management compared to standard cognitive behavioral treatment for treating cannabis use disorder in youth: a randomized controlled trial;
• Cost-effectiveness of tubal flushing with oil-based contrast during hysterosalpingography compared to tubal flushing by foam hysterosalpingosonography in infertile women;
• Driving pressure during general anesthesia for minimally invasive abdominal surgery: a randomized controlled trial;
• Superiority of perineoplasty as concomitant surgical procedure during pelvic organ prolapse repair: a comparative cohort trial.

The full details in Dutch can be found here.

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