Learning Health System Program
5 lessons from co-designing with patient partners
Sarah Brush shares insights on engaging KP members in a Learning Health System project to revamp chronic pain care.
What is the Learning Health System Program?
Kaiser Permanente Washington’s Learning Health System (LHS) Program brings our research institute and care delivery system together to design, implement, and evaluate initiatives that benefit our members, our care teams, and the communities we serve. We use research evidence, data and advanced analytics, implementation science, and member experience to spread sustainable best practices across our health system.
A key role of the LHS Program is to help Kaiser Permanente Washington act quickly to implement changes when urgent needs arise—such as the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using LHS Program capabilities helps Kaiser Permanente Washington make timely, patient-centered decisions that are informed by science, driven by our own data, and designed to be sustainable.
What's on the horizon for 2021?
Much of the LHS Program’s work in 2020 focused on informing and accelerating Kaiser Permanente’s response to COVID-19. We’ll continue this important work in 2021, while pursuing other ongoing projects that target specific areas of concern heightened by the pandemic—so that we can better serve members with mental health challenges, social needs, chronic pain, and other complex conditions.
Priority projects for the coming year
- COVID-19: Build on 2020 work and our partnership with KP Washington leaders in quality and business analytics to identify high-risk patients and measure new virtual approaches to care.
- Integrated Pain Management Program: Complete implementation in our 3 pilot medical centers, launch in Spokane District, and evaluate outcomes to prepare for spread to other districts.
- Advanced Analytics: Evaluate predictive models for sepsis, mortality, suicide risk, and opioid use disorder/opioid risk and advise care delivery partners on their implementation.
- Social Health: Support KP Washington’s implementation of universal social needs screening and contribute to KP National’s social needs strategy.
- 13-17 Integrated Mental Health Pilot: Collaborate with teens, parents/guardians, and KP Washington care teams to co-design a model for integrating adolescent mental health care into primary care, and pilot it in three medical centers.
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Latest news
A practical roadmap to guide learning health systems
Claire Allen shares how a new paper from our LHS Program can help learning health systems move from concept to reality.
Contact us
For more information about Kaiser Permanente Washington's Learning Health System Program, please email us at KPWALHS@kp.org.
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