Research Spotlight

Acute kidney injury less common than believed in patients with exercise-induced muscle tissue breakdown

August 20, 2024

A new Kaiser Permanente study finds patients with high creatine kinase levels from strenuous exercise had higher risk of kidney injury if they used NSAIDs or were dehydrated.

More testing may not benefit most patients with chest pain but no signs of a heart attack

May 23, 2024

New Kaiser Permanente research suggests less need for referrals for follow-up non-invasive cardiac testing.

Early-career researchers embrace unique opportunity to improve health care  

December 11, 2023

The Division of Research is currently hosting one of its largest groups of postdoctoral research fellows.

Blood thinners still often used to treat patients with small lung blood clots

August 2, 2023

Kaiser Permanente study finds few patients with small lung blood clots qualify for surveillance and few physicians recommend it, preferring to treat patients with blood thinners.

5 Questions for . . . Dana Sax

April 27, 2023

Kaiser Permanente physician researcher conducts studies focused on ways to improve how care is provided in the emergency department.

Emergency physicians correctly identify patients with lung blood clots who should be hospitalized

April 6, 2023

Kaiser Permanente study finds doctors use factors beyond risk stratification tools to determine if a patient can safely be treated at home.

Better outcomes seen in people with severe aortic stenosis who have scheduled common valve procedure

April 5, 2023

New research from Kaiser Permanente finds patients who need an emergency transcatheter aortic valve replacement have greater risks.

Widely used triage method overestimates severity of a quarter of emergency department patients

March 17, 2023

A Kaiser Permanente study looking at the application of the Emergency Severity Index — a method commonly used to triage emergency department patients — found some imprecision, suggesting there may be an opportunity for the ESI to be updated.

Seeking the best tests for babies with fever

December 7, 2022

New Kaiser Permanente research suggests a national clinical guideline on evaluating infant fever may not be ideal in all health care settings.

Early antibiotics for sepsis supported in new study

June 27, 2022

A large multi-hospital analysis found that early antibiotics in sepsis patients resulted in improved health outcomes for them without posing unintended consequences for others, such as expanding overall antibiotic use or worsening antibiotic resistance.

Not all heart failure patients require hospitalization

June 10, 2022

Kaiser Permanente researchers have developed a risk stratification tool to guide hospital admissions from the emergency department for patients with acute heart failure.

Many patients with blood clots can go home from ER

May 16, 2022

A decision support tool implemented in Kaiser Permanente Northern California emergency departments in 2016 has continued to help physicians safely discharge patients with an acute pulmonary embolism to their homes without harmful effects, a new study shows.

Some pulmonary embolism patients effectively treated in primary care

January 12, 2022

Some people who get blood clots in their lungs may be able to skip a visit to the emergency department and be managed safely by their primary care physicians, a new Kaiser Permanente analysis suggests.

Teen suicidal thoughts and behaviors during pandemic vary by gender, diagnosis

September 1, 2021

The number of teens being seen at Kaiser Permanente Northern California emergency departments (ED) for suicidal thoughts and behaviors did not increase significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, though specific groups of teens may have sought care at higher rates during late 2020.

The findings were reported Sept. 1 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Emergency care for heart attacks and strokes rebounds

June 2, 2021

Kaiser Permanente study finds declines in heart attack hospitalizations and emergency care for possible strokes reported during onset of the COVID-19 pandemic not seen in subsequent surges.

Most stroke patients with severe symptoms could seemingly be treated at a primary stroke center

May 3, 2021

Even if emergency personnel were able to use the best stroke assessment tool available, most patients taken directly by ambulance to a comprehensive stroke center could have been treated at a primary stroke center instead, a new Kaiser Permanente study suggests.

New tool helps emergency medicine physicians provide more personalized care to patients with chest pain

March 31, 2021

Kaiser Permanente researchers have developed a more precise way to assess a patient’s risk of a heart attack, stroke, or other major heart-related problem within the next 60 days.

Large decrease in hospitalized heart attack patients seen during COVID-19 pandemic

May 19, 2020

New research by Kaiser Permanente shows the weekly number of patients admitted to Kaiser Permanente Northern California hospitals with acute myocardial infarction (heart attacks) fell to nearly half of what would be expected after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Population-level estimates show wide age range of adults hospitalized with COVID-19

April 24, 2020

A JAMA study, using data on patients hospitalized in March from all 21 Kaiser Permanente Northern California hospitals, is one of the first U.S. studies to look at overall hospitalization admissions of COVID-19 patients.

Emergency physicians can use clinical experience to accurately predict whether a child has appendicitis

April 2, 2020

A new study shows high success rates for experienced emergency physicians who use the sum of their clinical expertise to make an initial prediction about whether a child has appendicitis — especially in low-risk cases.

Clinical tool accurately predicts children’s appendicitis risk in Kaiser Permanente emergency rooms

June 19, 2019

Erring on the side of caution, emergency physicians tend to order CT scans to evaluate appendicitis in children, “but research shows that we weren’t necessarily catching more appendicitis,” Dr. Cotton said. “CT scans are costly and expose children to ionizing radiation that can increase the risk of cancer. At the same time, emergency physicians do not want to miss an important diagnosis like appendicitis.”

Kaiser Permanente “Tele-triage” of Chest Pain Safely Reduces Emergency Room Visits

December 3, 2018

A new Kaiser Permanente study led by Dana Sax, MD, published today in the December issue of the journal Health Affairs, found that “tele-triage” of patients with chest pain over the phone can safely and effectively direct people to the right place for receiving care.

KP Emergency Services Physicians Honored for Research

October 2, 2018

KP CREST, a multi-center collaborative network based at the Division of Research that encourages, enables, and executes research in emergency medicine, are 2018 recipients of TPMG’s Morris F. Collen Research Award.

New Kaiser Permanente Study Improves Follow-up of Chest Pain in Emergency Department Patients

February 13, 2018

OAKLAND, Calif. — A new study, which reviewed more than 118,000 patients arriving at Kaiser Permanente’s Northern California emergency departments...