Reduced death rates from colorectal cancer with FIT screening
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 ...
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Program helping patients lower cholesterol nets international award
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. ...
Five questions for … Dr. Michael Kanter
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 ...
Eating raw vegetables may improve bladder cancer outcomes
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 ...
Online physician ratings may not be accurate
September 17, 2019The physician ratings that patients see online may be inaccurate when compared to ratings compiled from surveys conducted internally by health care organizations, according to new research published today (Sept. 17, 2019) in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. “We know that patients often rely on online ratings when choosing doctors,” said Kanu Okike, MD, MPH, ...Read more...Dr. Steven Jacobsen of Kaiser Permanente elected president-elect of the American College of Epidemiology
September 10, 2019The Senior Director of Research for Kaiser Permanente Southern California, Steven J. Jacobsen, MD, PhD, has been elected by his peers to the office of president-elect of the American College of Epidemiology (ACE) for the 2020 membership year. He will assume the College’s presidency in 2021. The election results were announced today (Sept. 10, 2019) at ...Read more...Maternal diabetes and risk for children
August 2, 2019One way researchers at Kaiser Permanente work to make our next generation healthier is by studying children’s environments before birth. Recently several researchers looked at how mothers’ bodies manage sugar—including the type of diabetes that develops in pregnancy, called gestational diabetes—affected their children’s risk for diabetes, overweight/obesity, and cognitive impairment. Researchers at the Department of Research & ...Read more...End-of-life: Researchers seek to learn needs of sickest patients
August 2, 2019Researchers at the Department of Research & Evaluation are working to make the final life transitions better for patients and their families. Using analytical analysis, interviews, data queries and more, they aim to find out what people want in their final months and days, and how to improve care during that time. “The goal of medicine ...Read more...Tackling a deadly regional disease: Valley fever
August 2, 2019Over the years, the Department of Research & Evaluation’s Division of Clinical Trials Research has tackled some of the most serious infectious diseases facing Americans, including HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C. Recently, the clinical trials team and epidemiologists targeted a deadly regional disease: Valley fever. Also known as coccidioidomycosis, Valley fever is a respiratory disease caused by ...Read more...Addressing the social needs of patients
August 2, 2019There is a growing awareness in the health care community that treating a patient’s medical symptoms may not be enough. Their social situation may be the true impediment to a cure. But how does a doctor house the homeless veteran, feed the hungry child, or end loneliness for the aging widower? Right now, investigators at Kaiser Permanente ...Read more...Researchers and physicians work together to stem the opioid crisis
August 2, 2019Research is integral to Kaiser Permanente Southern California’s robust program to reduce opioid prescriptions and overdoses. In fact, scientists in 2 of the Department of Research & Evaluation’s scientific divisions are separately pursuing active studies with multiple clinical partners. “We are working to provide evidence to … identify the best strategies to tackle this epidemic,” said ...Read more...Researchers seek to reduce heart disease at home and abroad
August 2, 2019Reducing heart disease and one of its major risk factors, high blood pressure, has long been a focus for Kaiser Permanente Southern California’s Department of Research & Evaluation. The work currently in progress will affect lives locally and globally. Several recent studies delved into aspects of blood pressure because high blood pressure is a major risk ...Read more...Grant funds work to predict early-stage pancreatic cancer
August 1, 2019The National Institutes of Health has awarded Kaiser Permanente a grant to find a way to predict early-stage pancreatic cancer. Leading the project is principal investigator Bechien Wu, MD, MPH, a clinician investigator with the Department of Research & Evaluation and a gastroenterologist with the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center. “Pancreatic cancer is the fourth ...Read more...Research: RSV infection can be deadlier than flu in adults
August 1, 2019In many ways, the initial symptoms of influenza and respiratory syncytial virus are indistinguishable. But, research published in Clinical Infectious Diseases last month showed that RSV infection may be even more dangerous than the flu in older adults. The Kaiser Permanente Southern California study of hospitalized adults revealed that RSV infection, a highly contagious respiratory virus ...Read more...