In early March 2020, as it became clear the novel coronavirus was closing in on Southern California, clinical trials leaders from the Department of Research & Evaluation began assessing options for an investigational treatment that could be studied through clinical trials. With no approved medications to fight COVID-19, the need for an investigational option to

Read more

An analysis of Kaiser Permanente patients in California found a 33% reduced risk of dying from colorectal cancer among those completing at least one at-home fecal immunochemical test (FIT) screening. The study was published in JAMA Network Open. In 2007, Kaiser Permanente Southern California began an organized colorectal cancer screening program that includes automated outreach

Read more

A 2019 Kaiser Permanente program has helped patients with high levels of “bad cholesterol” start taking medications to lower their cholesterol and decrease their risk of stroke and heart attacks. This month, this SureNet Statin Start program was recognized with a prestigious UNIVANTS of Healthcare Excellence Award, and even more importantly, has significantly improved the

Read more

Dr. Michael Kanter is an associate investigator with the Department of Research & Evaluation and the chair of Clinical Science and a professor for the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine. He has been a quality care leader for Kaiser Permanente at both the regional and national levels for many years and was responsible for

Read more

Non-muscle invasive bladder cancer patients whose treatment included the immunotherapy Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) after surgery were less likely to have their cancer recur if their diet included raw cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, a new Kaiser Permanente study found. The research, published in the Journal of Urology, analyzed data from patients enrolled in the Bladder Cancer

Read more

Being active can lower your risk of getting seriously ill with COVID, regardless of your race or the chronic conditions you may have, according to research published last year in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The Kaiser Permanente Southern California findings were important, impactful, and influential. As a result, the journal editors chose the

Read more

A study of 316,443 patients shows that 7.4% of patients repeated fecal testing rather than proceeding directly to colonoscopy as guidelines recommend, and of those who repeated home tests, over half did not have a colonoscopy within one year. Colorectal cancer is the second most common cancer-related cause of death in the United States, but

Read more

Emerging COVID-19 variants continue to cause serious COVID-19 disease, but most people have not received any COVID-19 vaccine for more than a year. Kaiser Permanente Southern California researchers assessed the effectiveness of bivalent COVID-19 vaccines against the recently circulating variants or sublineages to inform policymakers and the potential need for updated vaccines. One of the latest studies

Read more

Emergency department use was common for adolescent and young adult cancer survivors within 5 years of a cancer diagnosis, and differences in use were associated with social and demographic factors and cancer type, according to a new Kaiser Permanente study. The American Cancer Society reports that more young people are being diagnosed with cancer. Understanding

Read more

A nurse and health services researcher, Huong Q. Nguyen, PhD, RN, focuses her research on the care of older adults with chronic and serious illnesses. She is the co-lead of the Care Improvement Research Team and interim director of the Division of Health Services Research & Implementation for the Department of Research & Evaluation. She

Read more

Michael J. Fassett, MD, came to work at Kaiser Permanente in 2000. Since then, his dedication to his patients through research has grown. He’s published more than 50 research papers in peer-reviewed journals. Now, as the regional physician-in-charge for Maternal-Fetal Medicine and the area research chair for the West Los Angeles and Kern County service

Read more