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Eye 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 ...

Aniket 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. ...

A 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 ...

In 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 ...

Research by physicians at the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center is helping patients with heart failure to transition more smoothly and safely to dialysis if they develop chronic kidney disease. “We wanted to look at whether patients with heart failure have any differences in how they transition to dialysis compared to those patients without heart ...

Most individuals in the United States who are pregnant are not getting the vaccines that could protect them — and their babies — from COVID-19, flu, and whooping cough, a new study shows. This is especially true among those who are on Medicaid. The nationwide study on vaccination during pregnancy was published in the American Journal ...

The benefits of intensive blood pressure shown in the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT) also helps patients with chronic kidney disease, according to new research led by Kaiser Permanente and Stanford University. The study was published in January 2025 in JAMA Network Open. The SPRINT clinical trial included adults with hypertension and elevated cardiovascular ...

Young people who frequently used electronic media, such as computers, television, and social media, had less physical activity, more stress, and modest cognitive challenges. The study was published in January 2025 in Preventive Medicine. “Our research found an association between electronic media use and a negative impact on youth,” said the study’s lead author,  Deborah Cohen, ...