KPWHRI in the Media

2019

october 1-31

Suicide prevention: Research network finds new way to predict risk

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Gregory Simon, MD, MPH, described how Kaiser Permanente will begin using a combination of patients’ health records and their answers to a short depression questionnaire to predict who’s most at risk in one of their mental health clinics:

• TIME magazine, Oct 24, 2019
  Suicide is preventable. Hospitals and doctors are finally catching up

Healthy Hearts Northwest helps smaller primary care clinics improve care

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Michael Parchman, MD, MPH, discussed results from his study showing that with supplemental support, primary care clinics can improve blood pressure care and lower the risk of cardiovascular disease:

• Managed Healthcare Executive, Oct 16, 2019
  Supplemental support in primary care can improve health

Ensuring safe medications for pregnant women

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Paige Wartko, PhD, commented on research suggesting that certain antidepressant medications may be linked to the development of gestational diabetes:

• Reuters, Oct 3, 2019
  Increased risk of gestational diabetes seen with some antidepressants

Preventing firearm injury: A priority for providers, researchers

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A story mentions research by David Grossman, MD, MPH: Keeping a gun locked, unloaded, and storing ammunition locked and in a separate location were each associated with a protective effect for unintentional firearm shootings and suicide attempts among teens and children:

• Oregon Public Broadcasting, Oct 2, 2019
  Poll: Most Americans support safe gun storage laws

september 1-30

Learning health system

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Paula Lozano, MD, MPH, Katharine Bradley, MD, MPH, and Rebecca Young, MSW, discussed the connection between research and care innovation: specifically, how research can improve clinical care using mental health screening tools as an example:

• Puget Sound Business Journal, Sep 13, 2019 
  Thought Leader Forum: Health care delivery partnerships make the best better

Diabetes is more common among minorities at lower weights

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David Arterburn, MD, MPH, was part of a team that found that members of racial and ethnic minority groups were much more likely to have diabetes or prediabetes at lower weights—even at normal or below-normal body mass index (BMI):

• HealthDay, Sep 24, 2019 
  It takes less weight to trigger diabetes in minorities than whites 

Six Building Blocks help small rural clinics to manage opioids better

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Led by Michael Parchman, MD, MPH, researchers at Kaiser Permanente and the University of Washington have developed an innovative program to provide small rural clinics with practice support to reduce patients’ use of opioids:

• AHRQ News Now, Sep 24, 2019 
  Opioid management program improves clinicians’ views of daily work: AHRQ study

AUGust 1-31

Six Building Blocks help small rural clinics to manage opioids better

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Led by Michael Parchman, MD, MPH, researchers at Kaiser Permanente and the University of Washington have developed an innovative program to provide small rural clinics with practice support to reduce patients’ use of opioids:

• KOMO TV, Aug 15, 2019
  Local research finds ways to cut opioid use in rural clinics

Kids need to lose weight? Set goals and work together

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Dori Rosenberg, PhD, says physical activity has been shown to improve academic performance—and improves attention and concentration:

• KUOW (NPR), Aug 26, 2019
  White kids usually get the most recess in Seattle. Black kids, the least

JUly 1-31

Post-traumatic stress disorder

Ben Balderson, PhD, shared information on fireworks trigging post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD):

• Q13 - KCPQ TV, Jul 3, 2019
  PTSD triggers and 4^th of July. 

Financial incentives increase stool testing

Research by Beverly Green, MD, MPH, explores how to help decrease disparities in screening for colon cancer:

• ACP Internist Weekly, Jul 9, 2019
  Financial incentives associated with increased FIT uptake but not increased CRC screening overall. 

CT scan use in pregnancy rose in U.S. and Canada over two decades

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Diana Miglioretti, PhD, Erin Bowles, MPH, and colleagues conducted the first large, multicenter study of advanced imaging during pregnancy. They found that use of scans that expose women and fetuses to ionizing radiation has risen significantly over 21 years:

• HealthDay (translated into Spanish and syndicated in U.S. News & World Report, etc.), Jul 24, 2019
  Pregnant women exposed to more risky CT scans. 
• UPI, Jul 24, 2019
  Study: CT scans during pregnancy rise in U.S., exposing fetuses to excess radiation. 
• KCBS, Jul 24, 2019
  Why more pregnant women are having scans. 
•  Sacramento Bee, Jul 24, 2019
  CT scans of pregnant women on the rise despite radiation risk, Kaiser-UC Davis study finds.
• Aunt Minnie, Jul 24, 2019
  More pregnant women are undergoing imaging. 
• Medscape, Jul 24, 2019
  Increased use of CT scans during pregnancy in US and Canada

Using breast MRI after cancer may lead to unneeded biopsies

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Karen Wernli, PhD, found that when breast cancer survivors were screened using breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), they had more than twice as many biopsies as did those screened using mammography alone.

• MedPage Today, Jul 24, 2019
  MRI screening finds more breast cancers, but at what cost? 
• Diagnostic Imaging Europe, June/July 2019 (page 43)
  Surveillance MRI in breast cancer survivors. 

Six Building Blocks help small rural clinics to manage opioids better

Read story.

Led by Michael Parchman, MD, MPH, researchers at Kaiser Permanente and the University of Washington have developed an innovative program to provide small rural clinics with practice support to reduce patients’ use of opioids:

• The Daily of the University of Washington, Jul 30, 2019
  The Six Building Blocks: Redesigning opioid management. 
• CQ Researcher, Jul 12, 2019 (subscription required)
  Suicide crisis: Can the rising rate be stemmed? 
• UW Medicine Newsroom, Jul 9, 2019
  Six ways to manage opioids in small, rural clinics. 

Your brain is a reservoir: Replenish it with these 10 healthy habits

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Eric B. Larson, MD, MPH, outlines steps you can take to help prevent brain function from declining with age:

• 3rd Act magazine, Spring 2019
  Your brain is like a reservoir. Replenish it with healthy activity. 

JUNE 1-30

Using breast MRI after cancer may lead to unneeded biopsies

Read news release.

Karen Wernli, PhD, found that when breast cancer survivors were screened using breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), they had more than twice as many biopsies as did those screened using mammography alone:

• Reuters (via Medscape), Jun 7, 2019
  Breast MRI may up biopsy, cancer-detection rates in women with breast-cancer history
• HealthDay (syndicated, including U.S. News & World Report and WebMD), Jun 4, 2019
  Is MRI screening worth it for breast cancer survivors?
• Aunt Minnie, Jun 4, 2019
  Surveillance breast MRI is double-edged sword

Top pediatric physician-scientist chosen to lead Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute

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Rita Mangione-Smith, MD, MPH, is the new leader of Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute:

• GeekWire, Jun 20, 2019
  Tech moves: Kaiser Permanente names head of research in Washington state

Post-traumatic stress disorder

Ben Balderson, PhD, shared information, tips, and treatment for Post-Traumatic Disorder Awareness Month:

• Q13 - KCPQ TV, Jun 7, 2019
  Identifying and treating PTSD

MAY 1-31

Fewer heart attacks, strokes, and deaths after weight-loss surgery

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Research led by KPWHRI is cited. Published in JAMA, it showed that patients who had bariatric surgery had a significantly smaller risk of coronary artery disease and stroke compared with patients who did not have surgery:

• AARP magazine, May 13, 2019 
  Weight-loss surgery can benefit people into their 60s, 70s and 80s

10 things you can do to prevent devastating falls

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Eric B. Larson, MD, MPH, commented on a new study suggesting that older people who fall may not always be stumbling over things in the dark:

• Reuters Health (syndicated in Washington Post, etc.), May 30, 2019
  Many older adults fall at home in well-lit rooms

April 1-30

March 1-31

February 1–28

Esketamine: How to assess new antidepressant’s efficacy

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Gregory Simon, MD, MPH, is quoted about whether the new antidepressant treatment, which the FDA approved on March 4, decreases suicide attempts:

• Bloomberg Businessweek, Feb 5, 2019
  Ketamine could be the key to reversing America’s rising suicide rate

Cost-of-care conversations: How can health care be more transparent?

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Based on her research, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Nora Henrikson, PhD, discusses three pathways that clinicians can use to integrate cost of care conversations into their clinical workflows:

• Avalere podcast, Feb 22, 2019
  E3 – A guide to integrating cost-of-care conversations into workflow

Proactive boomers will ‘choose their own adventure’ in growing old

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Eric B. Larson, MD, MPH, discusses the broader perspectives and achievable goals that come with aging:

• 3^rd Act magazine, Winter 2019
  Life can get better as we age

January 1–31

ACT study: Long-running study of aging examines changes in Kaiser Permanente patients over time

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Eric B. Larson, MD, MPH, will participate in a panel at the UW about the latest research on Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and other neurodegenerative diseases:

• Tacoma News Tribune, Jan 3, 2019
  Learn about latest Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s breakthroughs and more from UW Forum

10 things you can do to prevent devastating falls

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This story, on whether increasing falls among older people may be due to more use of prescription medications, quotes Eric B. Larson, MD, MPH. It also discusses current research by Karen Sherman, PhD, with University of Washington (UW) colleagues to find ways to reduce the risk, including daily exercises and reducing or eliminating use of benzodiazepine medications:

• Everett Herald, Jan 6, 2019
  Deaths from falls in seniors are up—Are prescriptions to blame?

Kaiser Permanente Research Affiliates Evidence-based Practice Center

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The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality newsletter features two articles by KPWHRI researchers: David C. Grossman, MD, MPH, on U.S. Preventive Services Task Force priorities for prevention research; and Nora Henrikson, PhD, on cost-effectiveness of age-specific screening intervals for people with family histories of colorectal cancer:

• AHRQ News Now, Jan 22, 2019
  AHRQ in the professional literature

Gun safety is crucial for families with high-risk teens

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David C. Grossman, MD, MPH, is quoted about Kaiser Permanente’s commitment of $2 million toward research to prevent gun injuries and death, which he is helping to lead:

• Annals of Emergency Medicine, Jan 24, 2019 
  A balancing act, the emergency physician role in firearms safety

Home tests and automated reminders cut colon cancer screening costs

Read news release.

Beverly Green, MD, MPH, says Kaiser Permanente’s fecal immunochemical test (FIT) kit direct-mail program has led to some of the United States’ highest colorectal screening rates:

• ACP Internist, Jan 29, 2019 
  Increasing colorectal cancer screening

How should we screen for gestational diabetes?

Read blog post.

In this podcast, Sascha Dublin, MD, PhD, and Gaia Pocobelli, PhD, discuss how they discovered that switching to a new screening approach increased diagnoses of gestational diabetes without improving health outcomes—leading Kaiser Permanente Washington to switch back.

• NIH Collaboratory Living Textbook of Pragmatic Clinical Trials, Jan 29, 2019 
  A learning health system story: perinatal outcomes associated with a major change in gestational diabetes screening

Suicide prevention: Research network finds new way to predict risk

Read news release.

Julie Richards, PhD, writes about how Kaiser Permanente Washington’s behavioral health integration pilot showed how primary care providers can best help identify and treat suicidal patients. Her coauthors are Rebecca Parrish, LICSW, Amy Lee, MPH, Katharine Bradley, MD, MPH, and Ryan Caldeiro, MD:

• Psychiatric Times, Jan 31, 2019 
  An integrated care approach to identifying and treating the suicidal person in primary care

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Media contact

For more on Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute news, please contact:

Rebecca Hughes
Rebecca.F.Hughes@kp.org

206-287-2055
After-hours media line: 206-448-4056

@KPWaResearch

About Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute

Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI) improves the health and health care of Kaiser Permanente members and the public. The Institute has conducted nonproprietary public-interest research on preventing, diagnosing, and treating major health problems since 1983. Government and private research grants provide our main funding. Follow KPWHRI research on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or YouTube. For more information, go to: www.kpwashingtonresearch.org.

About Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America’s leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, Kaiser Permanente has a mission to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve more than 12.2 million members in eight states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal Permanente Medical Group physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: kp.org/share.