At the core of Leah Tuzzio’s work is a passion for stakeholder engagement and applying human-centered design methods to pragmatic research, with a goal of uncovering real-world solutions to common health and care issues. She contributes to a wide range of quality-improvement and health care design research focused on advancing whole-person health. She has particular interest in social health disparities research, and reducing social isolation, financial hardship, and other social risks that impact people’s health and well-being.
At Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI), Ms. Tuzzio is a scientific collaborator on many teams. She focuses on projects related to social determinants of health, patient-centered care, and quality improvement research on topics related to cancer, chronic illnesses, and dementia.
Some of Ms. Tuzzio’s projects that use qualitative design research methods include:
Among other highlights from her tenure with KPWHRI:
Before joining KPWHRI (formerly known as Group Health Research Institute) in 2005, Ms. Tuzzio was a senior project manager overseeing large health disparities research studies in New York City. Certified as a Six Sigma green belt in quality improvement, she also collaborated with a team to reduce lost Medicare claims revenue in a health care system.
Outside of work, Ms. Tuzzio spends time with her family doing building projects and outdoor activities that always include their dog, Rutabaga. She also enjoys volunteering with various community-based organizations that focus on homelessness, food insecurity, public land, and education.
Health promotion; social/behavioral theories; smoking cessation
Health promotion; social/behavioral theories; smoking cessation
Primary care organization and design; quality of primary care; implementation science; value-based health care; patient-centered care; team-based care
Patient-centered medical home
Collaborative approaches to transforming health care systems; design of health care systems and teams; evaluation of health care systems; measurement of change in health care systems
Preventive care; evidence-based medicine; immunization
Clinic-community linkages; preventive medicine; addressing social determinants of health
Aiello Bowles EJ, Tuzzio L, Ritzwoller DP, Williams AE, Ross T, Wagner EH, Neslund-Dudas C, Altschuler A, Quinn V, Hornbrook M, Nekhlyudov L. Accuracy and complexities of using automated clinical data for capturing chemotherapy administrations: implications for future research. Med Care. 2009;47(10):1091-7. Epub 2009 Jul 30. PubMed
Bowles EJ, Tuzzio L, Ross T, Williams AE, Altschuler A, Ritzwoller DP, Nekhlyudov L. The trustworthiness of administrative health plan data in chemotherapy research. Clinical Medicine & Research. 2008 Dec 1;6(3-4):123.
Hebert PL, Sisk JE, Wang JJ, Tuzzio L, Casabianca JM, Chassin MR, Horowitz C, McLaughlin MA. Cost-effectiveness of nurse-led disease management for heart failure in an ethnically diverse urban community. Ann Intern Med. 2008;149(8):540-8. PubMed
Aiello Bowles EJ, Tuzzio L, Wiese CJ, Kirlin B, Greene SM, Clauser SB, Wagner EH. Understanding high-quality cancer care: a summary of expert perspectives. Cancer. 2008;112(4):934-42. Epub 2008 Jan 7. PubMed
Sisk JE, Horowitz CR, Wang JJ, McLaughlin MA, Hebert PL, Tuzzio L. The success of recruiting minorities, women, and elderly into a randomized controlled effectiveness trial. Mt Sinai J Med. 2008;75(1):37-43. PubMed
Aiello EJ, Buist DS, Wagner EH, Tuzzio L, Greene SM, Lamerato LE, Field TS, Herrinton LJ, Haque R, Hart G, Bischoff KJ, Geiger AM. Diffusion of aromatase inhibitors for breast cancer therapy between 1996 and 2003 in the cancer research network. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2008;107(3):397-403. Epub 2007 Mar 28. PubMed
Hebert P, Tuzzio L, Chassin M, Bramley D. Bramley et al. respond. Am J Public Health.
Bramley D, Hebert P, Tuzzio L, Chassin M. Indigenous disparities in health: a cross-country comparison between New Zealand and the United States. Am J Public Health. 2005 May;95(5):844-50. PubMed
By partnering with patients, KPWHRI researchers developed 2 new interventions to boost lung cancer screening.
KPWHRI researchers uncover obstacles faced by smaller practices when adding CVD risk calculators into primary care.
The MacColl Center’s LEAP project identifies 11 features of effective leadership at primary care practices.
Leah Tuzzio, MPH, and colleagues describe an underutilized role that can help primary care become truly patient-centered.
Healthcare Innovation, March 30, 2022