Bariatric surgery reduces costs for patients with type 2 diabetes
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 ...
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Research leads to finding ways to improve outcomes for heart failure patients with chronic kidney disease
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. ...
Medicaid enrollees less vaccinated during pregnancy across US
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 ...
Intensive blood pressure control and patients with chronic kidney disease
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 ...
Chronic metabolic conditions affect metastatic breast cancer survival rates
October 6, 2022Early detection and screening of breast cancer has allowed most women to thrive long after their diagnosis. However, women of color persistently experience disparities in outcomes. Researchers at the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation have been working to find ways to reduce these disparities and improve the survival rates for all ...Read more...5 questions for … Dr. Amrita Mukherjee
September 21, 2022Amrita Mukherjee, PhD, MPH, is an epidemiologist in the first year of her postdoctoral program at the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation. Her research interests include human papillomavirus-associated cancers, gynecologic cancers, comorbidities in cancer patients and survivors, and development of risk prediction models using electronic health records and cancer registry data. ...Read more...5 questions for … Dr. Nana Mensah
September 19, 2022A maternal and child health epidemiologist, Nana Mensah, PhD, MPH, is in the first year of her postdoctoral program at the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation. Through her research working with the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Pregnancy Registry, she seeks to understand how clinical guidelines and practices shape birth outcomes in ...Read more...5 questions for … Dr. Lewei Duan
September 16, 2022A health economist, Lewei Duan, PhD, MS, is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation. She has special interests in improving health care delivery systems, specifically in maximizing health and well-being for older adults and underserved populations. Prior to her current position, Dr. Duan worked as a ...Read more...Remdesivir may reduce hospital readmissions for COVID-19 patients
September 15, 2022A study of Kaiser Permanente Southern California members who were hospitalized for COVID-19 identifies key factors associated with lower chances of readmission — including treatment with the medication remdesivir and delaying discharge until 10 days have passed since COVID-19 symptoms began. “This study supports a continued role for remdesivir in treating COVID-19,” said the study’s lead ...Read more...Antidepressants linked to lower risk of prostate cancer recurrence
September 9, 2022In a study of more than 10,000 Kaiser Permanente members diagnosed with both prostate cancer and depression, those who used antidepressants had a lower risk of cancer recurrence. These findings appeared September 9, 2022, in Cancer Causes & Control. “Our research highlights how important it is for patients with prostate cancer to be screened and treated ...Read more...Fewer hospitalizations for home-based cardiac rehabilitation patients
August 25, 2022Patients who participated in in-home cardiac rehabilitation had fewer hospitalizations over 12 months than patients who participated in center-based cardiac rehabilitation, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published August 25, 2022, in JAMA Network Open. “The remarkable thing we found in this study of more than 2,500 diverse patients was that health advantages of home-based cardiac ...Read more...Increased health care use among patients after COVID-19
August 12, 2022A study led by Kaiser Permanente in Southern California of patients from 8 health care organizations across the United States showed that COVID-19 was associated with a 4% increase in use of health care services over the 6 months after initial infection. The study was published August 12, 2022, in JAMA Network Open. Some people who were ...Read more...Child abuse–related emergency department visits increased after pandemic lock-down
August 8, 2022The rate of emergency department visits associated with child abuse or neglect at Kaiser Permanente Southern California hospitals doubled immediately after the March 2020 stay-at-home order. This increase in the rate of child maltreatment visits was highest among younger children, girls, and children who were Black or Hispanic. Over the following year and a half, ...Read more...COVID-19 boosters shown to be effective for adolescents
August 3, 2022Adolescents who received 3 doses of the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID vaccine were better protected against infection with SARS-CoV-2 — the virus that causes COVID-19 — than adolescents who received only 2 doses, according to a study of more than 3,000 Kaiser Permanente Southern California members ages 12 to 17 and published on August 3, 2022, in ...Read more...