Program ‘Potentially Promising Care’

The aim of the research program ‘Potentially Promising Care’ is to expedite patient access to potentially promising interventions. This program, which came into effect on the 1st of February 2019, is run by Zorginstituut Nederland and ZonMw.

Inclusion in the standard healthcare package

Care can only reimbursed from the Dutch standard healthcare package if it is as effective, or better than, the current standard of care in the Netherlands. In other words, it has to comply with the Dutch statutory criterion ‘established medical science and medical practice’. Results from high-quality research are needed to determine whether care is (at least) as effective as the standard of care. Such research is often expensive, demands extensive expertise and takes many years to be executed.

Temporary funding

This research program can offer temporary funding for potentially promising interventions that are not reimbursed from the Dutch standard healthcare package. Funding is only granted if high-quality research data are collected during the subsidy period which can be used in the future to assess the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the intervention. A subsidy is granted for a maximum of 6 years. Within six months after a project has ended, Zorginstituut Nederland will use the research data to assess whether or not the treatment can be reimbursed from the Dutch standard healthcare package.