CESR - Center for Effectiveness & Safety Research Press

Select Kaiser Permanente Research Press Releases

Overview Video about the Center for Effectiveness & Safety Research

Elizabeth A. McGlynn, PhD, director of the Kaiser Permanente Center for Effectiveness & Safety Research, talks about how the center develops information that enhances to the ability of Kaiser Permanente's clinicians and patients to make care decisions together.

Infections During Infancy, Not Antibiotic Use, are More Closely Associated With Childhood Obesity Risk

Infections during infancy – rather than antibiotic use, as previously suspected – were associated with an increased risk of childhood obesity in a Kaiser Permanente study of more than 260,000 infants over 16 years.

Collaborative Care Model Improves Physical and Mental Health

Coordinating patients’ diabetes and cardiovascular treatment with mental health care can reduce depression while improving patients’ glucose and blood pressure numbers.

The Role of Research at Kaiser Permanente

Research can help us improve quality, safety and affordability. We know where we need to go as an organization; we need to continue to fill in gaps in the continuum of care. We also need to evolve models of care delivery to become even more effective and efficient.

Kaiser Permanente Telestroke Program Closes Gaps in Treatment, Increases Access to Timely Stroke Remedy

PASADENA, Calif. — The use of a life-saving clot-dissolving treatment for patients with acute ischemic stroke increased by 73 percent following the implementation of a Kaiser Permanente telestroke program, according to a study published today in The Permanente Journal.

The Role of Exercise Programs for Post-Bariatric Surgery Patients

Bariatric surgery has recently emerged as the most successful treatment for severe obesity. The different surgical procedures — gastric bypass, adjustable gastric band and sleeve gastrectomy — cause weight loss by restricting the amount of food the stomach can hold, decreasing absorption of nutrients or a combination of both

Mothers’ Excess Pregnancy Weight Gain and Elevated Blood Sugar ‘Imprint’ Obesity in Children

Children whose mothers gain excess weight or have elevated blood sugar during their pregnancies are more likely to become overweight or obese during their first decade of life.

New Study Shows Mental Health Diagnoses and Treatment Vary Significantly by Race and Ethnicity

A large study from Kaiser Permanente, involving more than 7 million adults, found significant differences in the diagnosis and treatment of mental health conditions based on the race and ethnicity of the patients.

Kaiser Permanente Launches Research Biobank, Aims to Transform Health

What starts with a health survey, data in an electronic medical record and a DNA sample can lead to breakthroughs in how health care providers diagnose, treat and prevent disease.

Taking Antidepressants With Widely Used Cancer Drug Does Not Increase Breast Cancer Recurrence

A large study of patients with breast cancer who took the anti-cancer drug tamoxifen while taking an antidepressant found no increased risk of recurrence.

The Increasing Discovery of Lung Nodules: What It Means for Physicians and Patients

Due to increasing use of chest CT scanning and improved methods for detection, lung nodules are being found more frequently as part of routine clinical practice, according to a study by Kaiser Permanente in Southern California.

Study Estimates HIV-Infected Individuals Have Increased Cumulative Incidence of Lifetime Cancer Risk

A large study with follow-up over 14 years offers a unique way of looking at the risk of cancer among HIV-positive individuals by accounting for the competing risk of death in the era of highly effective antiretroviral therapy (ART), as reported today in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Moving Evidence-Based Care into Everyday Practice

Health research findings create headlines and spark hope for new treatments, but in reality they often take 17 years to be implemented into clinical practice.

Higher Quality Screening Colonoscopies Associated With Lower Lifetime Risk of Colorectal Cancer and Death

Improving colonoscopy quality through higher detection rates for a particular type of polyp may be associated with as much as a 60 percent lower lifetime risk of colorectal cancer incidence and death without increasing overall care costs, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published June 16 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Choosing Wisely When It Comes to Cancer Care

Erin E. Hahn, PhD, MPH, a scientist with the Kaiser Permanente Department of Research & Evaluation, has embarked on a series of studies that explore the best choices for caring for patients with cancer. Physicians and patients choose specific procedures as a part of cancer care that they believe are in the patient’s best interest, but sometimes research will reveal that some of these procedures do not deliver the intended results.

Health System Factors Improve Medication Adherence Among Seniors with Diabetes

Specific system-level factors controlled by health care systems — including prescriptions with a medication supply greater than 90 days, mail-order pharmacy use, and lower copayments and out-of-pocket maximums — nearly doubled the likelihood that patients adhered to prescribed heart and diabetes medications, according to a new study published in the journal Medical Care.

Kaiser Permanente Receives Grant to Monitor Smokers for Potentially Cancerous Growths

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute recently awarded Kaiser Permanente $14.4 million to compare strategies for active surveillance of current and former smokers to scan for potentially cancerous small growths in the lungs. Current guidelines recommend that smokers and former smokers undergo lung cancer screening, which can identify these small growths (or pulmonary nodules) so they can be scanned to identify the few that are cancerous. However, the optimal frequency of such follow-up scans has not been determined.

Dramatic Decline in Risk for Heart Attacks Among HIV-Positive Members of Kaiser Permanente in California

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Previously reported increased risk of heart attacks among HIV-positive individuals has been largely reversed in recent years for Kaiser Permanente's California patients, according to a study published in the current online issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases.

Twelve-Year Study Confirms Overall Safety of Measles Vaccines

OAKLAND, Calif. -- A 12-year study of two measles-containing vaccines, published today in Pediatrics, found that seven main adverse outcomes were unlikely after either vaccine.

Digoxin Associated With Higher Risk of Death and Hospitalization in Adults With Atrial Fibrillation and No Heart Failure

OAKLAND, Calif. - Digoxin, a drug commonly used to treat heart conditions, was associated with a 71 percent higher risk of death and a 63 percent higher risk of hospitalization among adults with diagnosed atrial fibrillation and no evidence of heart failure, according to a Kaiser Permanente study that appears in the current online issue of Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology.

Automated Reminders Improve Medication Adherence and Cholesterol Control

PORTLAND, Ore. - People who received automated reminders were more likely to refill their blood pressure and cholesterol medications, according to a study published today in a special issue of the American Journal of Managed Care.

Kaiser Permanente Study Finds Shingles Vaccine Remains Effective After Chemotherapy

The herpes zoster vaccine continues to be effective in protecting older adults against shingles, even after they undergo chemotherapy, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published today in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

National Cancer Institute Awards $7.3 million to Kaiser Permanente for Cancer Clinical Trials, Patient Care Research

A new five-year, $7.3 million award from the National Cancer Institute will allow Kaiser Permanente to expand its innovative cancer clinical trials program.

Both Overtreatment and Undertreatment of Patients with High Blood Pressure Linked to Kidney Failure and Death

The mantra for treatment for high blood pressure has been “the lower, the better,” but that goal can potentially put patients at risk of kidney failure or death, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Study Provides New Perspectives on the Current Clostridium Difficile Epidemic

More than 80 percent of hospitalized patients who tested positive for Clostridium difficile were tested outside the hospital or within the first 72 hours of hospitalization, suggesting that settings outside of the hospital may play key roles in the identification, onset and possible transmission of the disease.

Study Compares Health Care Systems’ Quality of Care, Patient Outcomes

Leading up to and following the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, discussion of health care reform has focused on improving health care quality and ensuring that care is centered on patient needs. Kaiser Permanente has been at the forefront of this effort, demonstrating through its accumulating body of research that an integrated care system of physicians, pharmacists and emergency response providers, sharing the same electronic health records system, leads to better patient outcomes.

For Gastric Bypass Patients, Percent of Excess Weight Loss Differs by Race and Ethnicity, Study Finds

Non-Hispanic white patients who underwent a gastric bypass procedure lost slightly more weight over a three-year period than Hispanic or black patients, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published in the journal Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases.

Simple, At-Home Test Will Detect Most Colorectal Cancers

Tests that require patients to collect a single stool sample at home and then send it to a lab for analysis will detect about 79 percent of colorectal cancers, according to a new evidence review published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Sedentary Behavior and Low Physical Activity Linked to Heart Failure in Men

Men who reported being sedentary, with low levels of physical activity, were at a significantly higher risk for heart failure than those who were more active, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published today.

Kaiser Permanente-Led Team to Become Integral Part of New National Clinical Research Network

A new contract of nearly $7 million will take advantage of Kaiser Permanente’s pioneering expertise in health care research to build a data network aimed at improving patient outcomes in colorectal cancer, heart disease and obesity.

Weight at Time of Diagnosis Linked to Prostate Cancer Mortality

Men who are overweight or obese when they are diagnosed with prostate cancer are more likely to die from the disease than men who are of healthy weight, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published today in the journal.

Study Shows No Increased Risk for Heart Attacks Among HIV-Positive Patients With High CD4 Cell Counts

Patients who are HIV-positive and have high CD4 cell counts — or have a high number of white blood cells that fight infections — aren’t at an increased risk for heart attacks compared to patients who are HIV-negative, according to a Kaiser Permanente study that appears in the current online issue of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.

‘Complete Care’ Improves Patient Outcomes

Complete Care, a collaborative approach to meeting patient needs, is improving outcomes for Kaiser Permanente patients. Results from the program are featured in the November 2013 issue of The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, and described in a journal editorial as “a dramatic and impressive example of what is possible with a carefully designed and implemented system-level intervention.”

Earlier is Better for Measles Immunization First Dose

Children receiving measles-containing vaccines at 12-15 months of age have a lower increased risk of fever and seizures than those who receive them at 16-23 months of age, according to a new Kaiser Permanente study published in JAMA Pediatrics.

Chronic Use of Prescription Painkillers Continues Following Bariatric Surgery

Chronic use of prescription painkillers, also known as opioids, among obese patients prior to bariatric surgery continues after surgery, according to a new Kaiser Permanente study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Digoxin Associated with Higher Risk of Death for Patients with Heart Failure

Digoxin, a drug commonly used to treat heart conditions, was associated with a 72 percent higher rate of death among adults with newly diagnosed systolic heart failure, according to a Kaiser Permanente study that appears in the current online issue of Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.

Refusing Vaccinations Puts Children at Increased Risk for Whooping Cough

Undervaccination — not receiving all recommended vaccinations or not being vaccinated according to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices schedule — results in an increased risk for whooping cough in children 3 to 36 months of age, according to a new Kaiser Permanente study. The study was published Sept. 9 in JAMA Pediatrics. In 2012, the United States experienced its largest whooping-cough outbreak in 50 years.