Dr Wouters is professor Quality of Cancer Care, with a focus on data-driven improvement of patient outcomes. He is a surgical oncologist and international expert in the field of quality measurement, audit and feedback in hospital care (clinical auditing). As president (e.t.) of the Dutch Federation of Oncologic Societies (SONCOS), he was one of the initiators of the development and implementation of quality standards and nation-wide quality registries in Dutch health care.

More information about Michel Wouters

Dr Wouters is professor Quality of Cancer Care, with a focus on data-driven improvement of patient outcomes. He is a surgical oncologist and international expert in the field of quality measurement, audit and feedback in hospital care (clinical auditing). As president (e.t.) of the Dutch Federation of Oncologic Societies (SONCOS), he was one of the initiators of the development and implementation of quality standards and nation-wide quality registries in Dutch health care.

Oncology

In his research Professor Wouters focuses on data-driven improvements of patient outcomes. First, regarding better methods to measure the construct of ‘quality of care’, especially from the perspective of medical professionals, who are able to improve the care they provide, with feedback of meaningful, actable, benchmarked quality information. Second, Wouters uses ‘real world data’ from nation-wide quality registries to develop new insights about the diagnosis and treatment of patients in daily practice. A large proportion of patients with cancer, treated in daily practice, are not represented in clinical trials, with regard to their patient and tumor characteristics. Therefore, it’s important to evaluate the efficacy and efficiency of innovative treatments in the ‘real world’. Although, this kind of research is not only important for new treatments, but also for current practice, in which the effectivity of treatments is not always evidence-based. Third, in his research Wouters makes the connection between the different quality instruments that are available for health care providers, such as guidelines, quality standards, registries and consultation. And finally, his research focuses on the use of clinical as well as patient reported outcomes information in treatment decisions in daily practice, by patients and doctors, with as ultimate goal a transition to more patient-centered, personalized, value-driven cancer care (VBHC). 

Academic career

Michel W.J.M. Wouters studied Medicine at the Leiden University and graduated ‘cum laude’ in 1995. He successfully defended his thesis ‘Measuring and improving quality of care in surgical oncology’ in 2013 at the Leiden University and was granted his PhD ‘cum laude’. Wouters works as a surgical oncologist at the Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam, where he has specialized in the surgical treatment of melanoma and other skin cancers. In 2010, he was one of the authors and principal investigator of the Quality of cancer care report of the Dutch Cancer Society, which after its publication led to the development of multidisciplinary quality standards and quality registries in cancer care. As Head of the Scientific bureau of the Dutch Institute for Clinical Auditing (DICA), he leads a research group of 20 PhD students and 2 post-docs, who are active in the field of quality measurement and quality improvement in health care. Since December 1^st 2020, he is Professor Quality of Cancer Care at the Leiden University.

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Activities