Opioid tapering and risk of overdose
After the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued opioid prescribing guidelines in 2016, the national opioid dispensing rates steadily declined. However, while reducing opioid prescriptions is critically important, abruptly stopping opioids for pain has been shown to possibly raise the risk ...
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Five questions for Dr. Talar Habeshian
Talar Habeshian, PhD, MPH, was appointed as a postdoctoral research fellow in the Division of Epidemiologic Research at the Department of Research & Evaluation in August. She will focus on cancer ...
COVID-19 vaccination not linked to tinnitus
New Kaiser Permanente research shows that the COVID-19 vaccine does not increase the risk of developing tinnitus, which is a ringing in the ears. “Early on in the COVID-19 pandemic, some people complained ...
Fewer breast cancer patients received imaging follow-up after COVID-19 hit
A new Kaiser Permanente study showed that fewer breast cancer survivors received recommended annual breast cancer imaging in the time after the COVID-19 pandemic period compared to before the pandemic. ...
Knowledge and compassion drive nurses in clinical trials
May 9, 2025*Fourth in a series highlighting research nurses during Nurses Week 2025* Ruchy Maini, LVN, is a research nurse working at the Antelope Valley Medical Offices in Lancaster. She has worked with patients in clinical trials with the Department of Research & Evaluation since 2019. While she has worked in home health and skilled nursing facility settings since ...Read more...Finding a truly satisfying specialty in research
May 8, 2025*Third in a series highlighting research nurses during Nurses Week 2025* Noli Raz, RN, works at the Kaiser Permanente Irvine Medical Center with the CCTAP (Cancer Clinical Trials Access Program) team. He began his health care career more than 30 years ago as a phlebotomist at the Kaiser Permanente Anaheim Medical Center, where he worked closely ...Read more...Living a childhood dream as a research nurse
May 7, 2025*Second in a series highlighting research nurses during Nurses Week 2025* Kari Kayser, RN, works at the Kaiser Permanente South Bay Medical Center with the CCTAP (Cancer Clinical Trials Access Program) team. Her choice to dress as a nurse on career day as a kindergartener showed an early passion for a vocation that she now loves ...Read more...She never intended to be a nurse, but a near tragedy changed all that
May 6, 2025*First in a series highlighting research nurses during Nurses Week 2025* Michelle Jurado, MSN, RN, PHN, didn’t intend to become a nurse. She was good with numbers, so she went into finance in the aerospace industry. It was going really well. But then one night at a party, her mom missed a step, fell, and hit ...Read more...R&E investigator wins prestigious award
April 15, 2025Jaejin An, PhD, was awarded the Early Career Investigator of the Year award at this year’s Health Care Systems Research Network conference held this month in St. Louis, Missouri. Dr. An is a pharmacoepidemiologist and cardiovascular outcomes researcher for the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation whose work focuses on disease management, ...Read more...Study identifies who is most at risk of tuberculosis
April 3, 2025People born in countries with a high burden of tuberculosis (TB) and living in the United States have higher rates of TB disease, and may need more focused screening, according to new Kaiser Permanente research. The study also found higher rates of TB among patients with certain high-risk medical conditions. The study was published in Open Forum ...Read more...Doctors assess glaucoma risk among younger adults
April 3, 2025Eye specialists at Kaiser Permanente Southern California studied whether using a standardized testing criteria among younger adults could improve care, reduce unnecessary testing, and potentially reduce blindness from glaucoma. The eye specialists, working with researchers at University of Southern California, published Outcomes of Glaucoma Referrals in Adults Aged 18 to 40 years in JAMA Network Open ...Read more...Five questions for … Dr. Aniket Kawatkar
April 3, 2025Aniket Kawatkar, PhD, MS, is a research scientist who is interested in understanding the drivers of health care utilization and their associated economic, clinical, and patient-reported outcomes. Dr. Kawatkar uses established methods from econometrics, discrete choice experiments, and net benefit analysis to evaluate interventions and treatments aimed at improving patient care in real-world clinical settings. ...Read more...Bariatric surgery reduces costs for patients with Type 2 diabetes
March 11, 2025A Kaiser Permanente found that bariatric surgery reduced health care costs for adults with Type 2 diabetes and obesity. The study was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine in February 2025. “The study shows that both Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) and sleeve gastrectomy (SG) help reduce health care costs for people with Type 2 diabetes ...Read more...Many U.S. teens may be eligible for weight loss surgery
March 1, 2025In a Kaiser Permanente Southern California study, 1 in 23 adolescents met the eligibility criteria for metabolic and bariatric surgery, also known as weight loss surgery. The findings suggest that about 1 million adolescents across the United States could be eligible for the procedure. “Understanding the population of adolescents who qualify for weight loss surgery is ...Read more...