Hospital Research studies

Kaiser Permanente’s diverse Southern California membership, our electronic medical record, and our integrated care model provide the ideal environment for our researchers to study and develop ways of improving hospital care. Some of our studies have evaluated strategies to help reduce the chance that patients will be readmitted to the hospital and assessed the safety of seasonal flu vaccination for surgical patients.

A virtual network to investigate the clinical epidemiology of influenza and the effectiveness of influenza vaccines

The VISION Vaccine Effectiveness Network is a research collaboration between CDC, Westat, and multiple sites with integrated clinical, laboratory, and vaccination records in the United States that evaluate how well seasonal influenza (flu) vaccines protect people against flu, RSV vaccines protect people against RSV, and COVID-19 vaccines protect against COVID-19. VISION also assesses information on severe outcomes among people hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed flu and COVID-19 including intensive care unit (ICU) admission, invasive mechanical ventilation, and in-hospital death. These data help inform how well flu vaccines, RSV vaccines, and COVID-19 vaccines protect against severe outcomes.

Principal Investigator:

Sara Yee Tartof, PhD, MPH

Funding Source:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Funding Years:

2023 - 2027

Development of a Clinical Risk Tools to Predict Antibiotic Resistance and Treatment Failure/Hospitalizations among Adult, Hospitalized Patients with complicated Urinary Tract Infections (cUTIs) in the Outpatient Setting

The major goal of this project is to characterize and estimate the probability of antibiotic resistance among adult patients with complicated urinary tract infections (cUTIs) in the outpatient setting, as well as characterize cUTI patients who are at risk for treatment failure.

Principal Investigator:

Sara Yee Tartof, PhD, MPH

Funding Source:

SPERO, Inc.

Funding Years:

2021 - 2023

Feasibility Assessment prior to conducting a BNT162b2 Vaccine Effectiveness case-control study at Kaiser Permanente Southern California

The objectives of this large retrospective data-only study are to use two parallel study designs to assess the VE of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine against 2 primary endpoints: 1.) Severe outcomes (COVID-19 associated hospitalization, ICU admission, and death); and 2.) Outpatient laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis.

Principal Investigator:

Sara Yee Tartof, PhD, MPH

Funding Source:

Pfizer, Inc.

Funding Years:

2020 - 2024

Feasibility Assessment prior to conducting an RSVpreF Vaccine Effectiveness study at Kaiser Permanente Southern California among Older Adults

Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is a major cause of respiratory infection for infants and older adults. In this study, we will estimate vaccine effectiveness of Pfizer’s RSVpreF vaccine against RSV-related lower respiratory tract infection requiring hospitalization among KPSC older adults who are eligible for vaccination per current ACIP recommendations.

Principal Investigator:

Sara Yee Tartof, PhD, MPH

Funding Source:

Pfizer, Inc.

Funding Years:

2023 - 2024

Kaiser Permanente Southern California and Novavax Collaboration on RSV Epidemiology

The purpose of this study is to provide critical information about the predictors of severe RSV disease, describe epidemiology and burden of hospitalized RSV disease in older adults, and assess healthcare utilization associated with hospitalized RSV disease in older adults in a community setting. A population of hospitalized older adults testing positive for influenza will also be identified for comparison purposes.

Principal Investigator:

Hung Fu Tseng, PhD, MPH

Funding Source:

Novavax, Inc.

Funding Years:

2016 - 2018

Non-interventional study to estimate the effectiveness of Arexvy vaccine in preventing respiratory syncytial virus-associated lower respiratory tract disease hospitalization in adults>=60 years: a test negative design

This observational study aims to assess the vaccine effectiveness of Arexvy in preventing laboratory-confirmed RSV-acute respiratory infection (ARI)/LRTD hospitalization in adults>=60 years at Kaiser Permanente Southern California, using a test-negative design.

Principal Investigator:

Hung Fu Tseng, PhD, MPH

Funding Source:

GlaxoSmithKline, LLC

Funding Years:

2023 - 2029

Outpatient Clostridioides difficile Feasibility Study

The overall goal of this feasibility work will be to develop a protocol for the main outpatient C. difficile study that will achieve the goals of the retrospective, prospective, and validation components outlined by the funder.

Principal Investigator:

Sara Yee Tartof, PhD, MPH

Funding Source:

Pfizer, Inc.

Funding Years:

2021 - 2023

Real-World Study of the Comparative Effectiveness of Licensed Influenza Vaccines in Preventing Hospitalizations with Influenza in the 2022-2023 Influenza Season

Comparative vaccine effectiveness of influenza vaccine in the 2022-2023 season.

Principal Investigator:

Hung Fu Tseng, PhD, MPH

Funding Source:

ModernaTX, Inc.

Funding Years:

2023 - 2025

Retrospective Study Evaluating ABRYSVO Vaccine Effectiveness Against Severe Lower Respiratory Tract Infection in Older Adults

RSV is a major cause of respiratory infection in both infants and older adults, and clinical manifestations can be severe. This study will evaluate the vaccine effectiveness of Pfizer’s ABRYSVO vaccine against RSV-related lower respiratory tract infection requiring hospitalization among Kaiser Permanente Southern California members ages 60 and older who are eligible for vaccination per current ACIP recommendations.

Principal Investigator:

Sara Yee Tartof, PhD, MPH

Funding Source:

Pfizer, Inc.

Funding Years:

2023 - 2025

Utilizing Real World Data to Describe Clinical and Safety Outcomes Among Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients, and to Create a Comparator Arm for a Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluating the Efficacy and Safety of Actemra for COVID-19 Patients

Elevated tissue and serum levels of IL-6 have been implicated in the disease pathology of several inflammatory and autoimmune disorders including rheumatoid arthritis, systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA), and cytokine-release syndrome (CRS). Tocilizumab or TCZ (Actemra) is a recombinant humanized, anti-human monoclonal antibody directed against soluble and membrane-bound IL-6R. On March 3rd 2020, TCZ was included in the updated diagnosis and treatment plan for COVID-19 issued by the China National Health Commission as one treatment option for severe or critical forms of COVID-19 pneumonia. However, despite fairly widespread use in China, Actemra has not received health authority approval for COVID-19 in any country. More robust clinical evidence regarding the safety or efficacy of TCZ in the treatment of COVID-19 is needed. Roche is conducting a Phase 3, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter study to assess the efficacy and safety of TCZ in combination with SOC compared with matching placebo in combination with SOC in hospitalized adult patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia (n=330). KPSC is collecting demographic, comorbidity, and clinical information on KPSC patients hospitalized with COVID-19 infection to create a real world data (RWD) comparator arm that will be matched to the TCZ treatment arm of the RCT.

Principal Investigator:

Sara Yee Tartof, PhD, MPH

Funding Source:

Genentech, Inc.

Funding Years:

2020 - 2022