R.M. (Robbert) Wouters, PhD

Patient-centered and value-based healthcare frameworks have gained global recognition, aiming to put the patient first and achieving high value at lower cost. Key in these frameworks is collecting patient data and measuring outcomes, preferably on routine basis. My vision is that these data can be used more efficiently to improve care for individuals against acceptable costs. These data can direct implementation and reimbursement of cost-effective treatments, as well as de-implementation and no or limited reimbursement for non-cost-effective treatments. My research is mission-driven and focused on the following in patients with hand and wrist conditions:

• Strategies and tools for personalized, data-driven, and outcome-based healthcare, to enhance the value of routinely collected data for both patients and clinicians
• Understanding practice variation between patients in daily practice to understand why some patients respond well to treatment and others do not, aiming for better decision-support and expectation management in daily practice
• Comparative effectiveness research with real-world clinical data to compare treatment effects of different treatment options

In 2022, I was awarded the prestigious Veni grant (€280k) for the project: “Predicting individualized clinically relevant outcomes: a new method for decision support using routine outcome measurements.” My Veni is about determining the “Personal Meaningful Gain”, a novel personalized clinical important outcome value to evaluate treatment success. I will use this to build individualized decision models to predict whether an individual will obtain a personalized clinically relevant improvement. I received several other impactful grants, including ZonMw grants on outcome-based healthcare (€148k) and cost-effectiveness (€451k).

I acquired my MSc in Clinical Health Sciences in 2016 and my PhD in 2020, both part-time while working in clinical care. I had a crucial role in developing and implementing ‘Pulse’, a successfully implemented routine outcome measurement system. Outcomes of >103,000 treatments and >71,000 patients on hand surgery and therapy are recorded within this unique cohort that we use for quality improvement and scientific research. During my PhD, I initiated research visits to Harvard Medical School and McMaster University/Western University, resulting in lasting collaborations and several publications. In 2018, I acquired a research fellow position at the International Consortium for Health Outcome Measurement (ICHOM) and had a lead role in a 2.5-year project yielding global consensus on outcome measurement in hand and wrist conditions. This consensus is endorsed by organizations such as the International Federation of Societies for Surgery of the Hand, published open access, and implemented at multiple centers worldwide to facilitate value-based health care.

As an Assistant Professor, I have a senior role in the Hand-Wrist Study Group (www.handwriststudygroup.org), comprising multiple senior author projects and supervision of five PhD and several MSc students. Internationally, I am considered an expert on outcome measurement in hand and wrist conditions. I frequently speak at (international) conferences, teach various courses (e.g., Academic Development in the BSc Clinical Technology), serve as the editor-in-chief of the Dutch Journal of Hand Therapy, and as a board member of the Dutch Society for Hand Therapy.

One of my strengths is connecting research with daily clinic experience, as I have worked in clinical care for more than ten years, including joint hand surgery consultations. This strengthens my research impact and facilitates implementation. I aim to perform high-quality, mission-driven research to impact patients and clinicians, society, and the scientific community. Having a progressive mindset, I feel the continuous need to grow personally and academically: standing still equals going backward.

See https://scholar.google.nl/citations?user=mNvjKGIAAAAJ&hl=nl

In the last years, I taught several courses at Erasmus MC and other institutes. These include, for example, the courses Academic Skills Development 1st and 2nd year at the BSc Clinical Technology, post-HBO education in hand therapy for physical and occupational therapists, minor education on anatomy of the hand and forearm and injuries of the upper extremity to BSc Medicine students, etcetera. In 2023, I obtained my University Teaching Qualification (BKO) and Universtiy Examination Qualification (BKE) certificate. I organized several so- called ‘studyathons’ for clinicians interested in analyzing clinical outcome data to answer research questions.

• Editor-in-chief of the Dutch Journal of Hand Therapy
• Board member of the Dutch Society of Hand Therapy
• Journal reviewer for several leading international peer-reviewed journals in my field, Grant reviewer ZonMw
• Scientific committee (international) conferences
• Working group member in several treatment guidelines