Diana Buist, PhD, MPH, is an epidemiologist and health services researcher with extensive experience conducting comparative effectiveness research. Her work focuses on reducing harms and increasing benefits for patients in the area of cancer screening and outcomes spanning across patient, provider, and system factors.
Dr. Buist has an extensive record of practical research that has led to many efforts to improve care, including the development and refinement of national breast cancer screening guidelines and their implementation within Kaiser Permanente Washington. She has been conducting research within Kaiser Permanente Washington for more than 20 years and is a strong believer in patient-centered care and the important role patients play in improving the value and quality of health care. Dr. Buist is involved in several studies aimed at providing high-value health care that provides patients and their providers with information on the expected benefits and harms of cancer screening and treatment strategies.
Dr. Buist also has a long history collaborating with external researchers, including helping lead two large national research consortia focused on improving cancer screening and outcomes: the National Cancer Institute’s Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium and the Cancer Research Network of the Health Care Systems Research Network. Her extensive experience working with diverse data from these consortia in longitudinal studies and randomized trials in clinical systems puts Dr. Buist in a unique position to examine screening, care, and outcomes in health systems across the country.
As Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI) Director of Research and Strategic Partnerships, Dr. Buist works with other Kaiser Permanente regions, our local academic partners, and other external collaborators to build enduring strategic partnerships to enhance KPWHRI’s mission, align with KPWHRI faculty research priorities, and capitalize on our unique strengths in ways that are consistent with our mission.
Dr. Buist contributes to a variety of other projects at KPWHRI, including:
Dr. Buist is also an affiliate professor in the Departments of Epidemiology and Health Services at the University of Washington School of Public Health and an affiliate member at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. She enjoys sharing her expertise by mentoring junior faculty and PhD and MPH candidates and teaching courses.
Cancer screening and prevention; outreach and primary care prevention; comparative effectiveness; cost transparency; surveillance; secondary prevention; breast cancer treatment; breast cancer screening; outcomes following cancer diagnosis; cancer survivorship; provider variability in care
Cancer prevention and control; quality of care; preventive care; high-value care; consumer engagement in preventive medicine; systematic reviews
Cancer prevention and control
Newton KM, LaCroix AZ, Buist DSM. Do providers encourage HRT use for women at high risk of coronary disease? A focus on attitudes and prescribing behaviors. Circulation. 1997;96(suppl) :131.
LaCroix AZ, Newton KM, Buist DSM, Keenan NL, Anderson LA. What factors account for differences in HRT prescribing by healthcare providers in a health maintenance organization? The EnPower Provider Survey. Menopause. 1997;4:262.
Anderson LA, Caplan LS, Buist DSM, Newton KM, Curry S, LaCroix AZ. Counseling about HRT: perceived barriers and recommendations among primary care providers. Menopause. 1997;4:263.
Newton KM, Anderson LA, LaCroix AZ, Buist DSM, Keenan NL. Healthcare provider characteristics and encouragement to use HRT: the EnPower provider survey. Menopause. 1997;4:263.
Buist DSM, Tiro JA, Thayer C, Beatty T, Miglioretti DL, Lin J, Winer RL. Improving the promise of embedded pragmatic trials: surmountable barriers encountered in an evaluation of home-based HPV self-sampling to increase cervical cancer screening in overdue women. Contemp Clin Trials Commun. 2019 Jul 19;15:100413. doi: 10.1016/j.conctc.2019.100413. eCollection 2019. PubMed
Buist DM, Ichikawa L, Wernli KJ, Lee CI, Henderson LM, Kerlikowske K, Bowles EJ, Miglioretti DL, Specht J, Rauscher G, Sprague B, Onega T, Lee JM. Facility variability in examination indication among women with prior breast cancer: implications and the need for standardization. J Am Coll Radiol. 2020 Jan 28. pii: S1546-1440(19)31483-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jacr.2019.12.020. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Dr. Diana Buist reflects on the challenges of providing screening during a pandemic — and finds reason for optimism.
The early-career scientists will receive 3 years of intensive training in Learning Health System research.
Admissions open for two new trainees as current scholars advance their projects.
Dr. Diana Buist and team reflect on HOME trial showing 50 percent screening boost in underscreened women.
Kaiser Permanente Washington has been part of the national Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium since 1994. Learn about the Kaiser Permanente Washington Breast Cancer Surveillance Registry here.
Interdisciplinary group shows that home-based HPV tests can boost cervical cancer screening for women at high risk.
Reuters Health, published by Medscape, Nov. 24, 2020