News Archives

  • Grant funds work to predict early-stage pancreatic cancer

    August 1, 2019
    The National Institutes of Health has awarded Kaiser Permanente a grant to find a way to predict early-stage pancreatic cancer. Leading the project is principal investigator Bechien Wu, MD, MPH, a clinician investigator with the Department of Research & Evaluation and a gastroenterologist with the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center. “Pancreatic cancer is the fourth ...
    Read more...
  • Research: RSV infection can be deadlier than flu in adults

    August 1, 2019
    In many ways, the initial symptoms of influenza and respiratory syncytial virus are indistinguishable. But, research published in Clinical Infectious Diseases last month showed that RSV infection may be even more dangerous than the flu in older adults. The Kaiser Permanente Southern California study of hospitalized adults revealed that RSV infection, a highly contagious respiratory virus ...
    Read more...
  • Mom’s diabetes could influence child’s risk of autism or ADHD

    August 1, 2019
    Since publishing in JAMA about strong associations between a mother’s diabetes and autism in 2015, Anny Xiang, PhD, a researcher with the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation, expanded that work to consider other neurological development disorders to find more nuances with the association,  including one published just last month. A study published ...
    Read more...
  • 5 questions for Dr. Bobeck S. Modjtahedi

    August 1, 2019
    Bobeck Modjtahedi, MD,  is 1 of 4 physicians appointed to the 2018 Southern California Permanente Medical Group Clinician Investigator Program. The program gives clinician researchers protected time in their schedule to conduct innovative research and use what they learn to transform medical practice. His research involves creating models that can predict a patient’s risk of ...
    Read more...
  • Kaiser Permanente improves emergency care for chest-pain patients

    April 3, 2019
    Emergency physicians at Kaiser Permanente hospitals in Southern California reduced hospital admissions and cardiac stress testing by using new criteria to assess the level of risk patients with chest pain have for subsequent cardiac events. The emergency department assessment was implemented across Kaiser Permanente Southern California and has improved the quality and efficiency of care for ...
    Read more...
  • Kaiser Permanente co-hosts embedded research conference

    February 20, 2019
    Organizations like Kaiser Permanente can make continuous improvements in the quality, safety, and value of patient care and at the same time contribute to scientific knowledge nationally and internationally by embedding researchers in their health care systems. This week, leaders in the movement toward learning health care systems will meet in Pasadena, Calif. to create a ...
    Read more...
  • Flu vaccine is safe for hospitalized patients

    January 18, 2019
    Hospitalized patients who received the flu vaccine had no increased risk of outpatient visits or hospital readmission within seven days of discharge, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings. The study also showed that vaccinating hospital patients did not increase the risk of fever or rates of laboratory evaluations for infection. It ...
    Read more...
  • Reducing antibiotic prescriptions through physician education and intervention

    November 21, 2017
    PASADENA, Calif. — Physicians at Kaiser Permanente in Southern California reduced the odds of prescribing an antibiotic for sinusitis by 22 percent using computer alerts to inform doctors when antibiotics may not be the best course of treatment. The research was published today in the American Journal of Managed Care. The work is a continuation of ...
    Read more...