February 2024

Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute recently received word of 3 new awards.

CHCF-EQuIP-LA (Equity and Quality at Independent Practices in Los Angeles)

A 2-year, $234,427 grant from California Health Care Foundation. Major goals: The major goals of this project are to conduct an evaluation of the EQuIP-LA program to help all partners better understand the successes and limitations of the program and assess and document the experiences of participants. This includes assessing program impact and participants’ progress, elevating facilitators and barriers, and evaluating perceptions and utilization of program supports. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Lisa Schafer.

Comparative Effectiveness of Anti-Obesity Medications for Cardiometabolic Health Outcomes and Health Services Use

A 5-year, $402,929 grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Major goals: The major goals of this project are (1) to address critical questions on the long-term efficacy and safety of anti-obesity medications approved by the Food and Drug Administration and (2) to assess hard clinical outcomes of these drugs (for example, incident diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular events) and their impact on health care use and costs. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is David Arterburn.

Identifying Optimal Antibiotic Regimens to Treat Urinary Tract Infections During Pregnancy — Supplement

A 1-year, $58,832 grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Major goals: The major goals of this project are to characterize differences in the incidence and treatment of urinary tract infection in pregnancy by race and ethnicity, including differences in choice of antibiotic and concordance of treatment with clinical guidelines; and to support Sandra McAteer, a master’s student in epidemiology at the University of Washington, in conducting research and gaining skills and experience needed for a successful career in maternal and child health interventions. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Sascha Dublin.


January 2024

Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute recently received word of 5 new awards.

Acumen America — MIC Evaluation Design

A 1-year, $25,000 grant from the Helmsley Charitable Trust. Major goals: To provide consultation on evaluation design for up to 4 pilot projects funded as part of Acumen America's Medicaid Innovation Collaborative (MIC) Tech Enabled Social Determinants of Health Pilot Program. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Maggie Jones.

California Health Care Foundation Hazel Health Telemental Health Evaluation Implementation

A 2-year, $239,769 grant from the California Health Care Foundation. Major goals: To understand the Hazel Health telemental health implementation in schools. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Natasha Arora.

Free From Market — United Healthcare Pilot Evaluation

A 1-year, $50,000 grant from Free From Market. Major goals: To evaluate a pilot program to provide access to Free From Market (a virtual food pantry) to high-risk pregnant people in Kansas who are experiencing food insecurity. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Elena Kuo.

Incorporate Frequently Used Engineered Features from Electronic Health Records (EHRs) into the Sentinel Common Data Model in the Sentinel EHR and Claims Linked Data Partner Network (FE5)

A 1-year, $200,000 grant from the Food and Drug Administration. Major goals: To derive health care risk factors such as smoking status and history of suicide attempt from clinical free text using natural language processing. The newly generated features will populate a new table in the FDA Sentinel common data model. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Robert Penfold.

Washington Learning Health System Embedded Scientist Training and Research Center (WA LHS E-STAR Center)

A 5-year, $4,999,458 grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Major goals: The major goal of the Washington Learning Health System (LHS) E-STAR Center is to train a diverse set of independent scientists with a solid foundation in LHS research who can change the paradigm of primary care research through research that rapidly develops and implements evidence while simultaneously building LHS capacity in safety net primary care settings. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Paula Lozano.