As a research center embedded within Kaiser Permanente’s large and dynamic health care system, our investigators have a unique opportunity to apply scientific expertise to real-world clinical problems, translate findings into practice, and share what we learn with the broader community.
Dr. Erin Hahn is a health services researcher and implementation scientist. Her primary research interests are quality of care in oncology and the implementation of evidence-informed practices. She is particularly interested in the post-treatment care of cancer survivors. Dr. Hahn’s work combines qualitative and quantitative methods. Her research explores variations in care delivery, views and opinions of patients and clinicians, and the association of multi-level factors with health ...
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 research article, “Associations of Physical Inactivity and COVID-19 Outcomes Among Subgroups,” as the American Journal of Preventive Medicine 2023 Article of the Year.
People born in countries with a high burden of tuberculosis (TB) and living in the U.S. 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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
In our newest edition of IMPACT, we share some of our recent research including one study about the effectiveness of the side-effect monitor our researchers developed during the early days of COVID that has gone onto being used to get feedback on other vaccines. Another study examined issues with chronic kidney disease, and the story reveals how that research has gone onto change practice. Other stories focus on research into air pollution and the risk of preterm birth, younger adults and colon cancer screening outreach, opioid use among breast cancer survivors and the risk of falls, COVID vaccines, and heart failure. We’ve also got 2 Q&As, one with the 2024 physician researcher of the year and one with the director of our Division of Epidemiologic Research.
Investigators with the Division of Health Services Research & Implementation Science study how care is delivered, identify opportunities for care improvement, and implement new approaches for organizing and delivering health services. The division brings together scientists with diverse expertise and training, including emergency medicine, epidemiology, health services research, implementation science, internal medicine, nursing, pharmaceutical economics, and pulmonology.
The division co-leads the Care Improvement Research Team, a research team embedded within Kaiser Permanente Southern California’s quality improvement ecosystem. The team works closely with clinical and operational partners at Kaiser Permanente Southern California to identify, prioritize, and solve problems related to quality and affordability. Its goal is to reduce unnecessary practice variation, improve affordability, and transform care.