Research on health informatics at Kaiser Permanente Washington focuses on developing and using health information technology (IT) to transform health care delivery. By testing new paradigms of care that provide more opportunities to engage patients, this research is supplying valuable evidence that is helping shape federal policy and guiding innovative redesign of health care.
“We’re working to understand how to make health IT practical so patients and care teams find it useful and engaging,” explained Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI) Senior Investigator James Ralston, MD, MPH. “We want to find ways to use information technologies to support patients and providers together, both inside and outside the office.”
Integral to this support is designing technologies that are user-friendly and meet the needs of both patients and providers. By applying human-centered methods that focus on needs, use, and usability, KPWHRI researchers inform the design of health IT with direct participation from users.
Groundbreaking methodological work by KPWHRI health informatics researchers includes developing natural language processing (NLP) to analyze text such as notes and written reports in electronic health records (EHRs). Assistant Investigator David Carrell, PhD, leads in the area of using NLP and machine learning to identify patient phenotypes, or specific health characteristics such as possible heart disease, risk of opioid overdose, or suggestion of colon cancer. This information can assist researchers in studying how genetics and other factors influence disease.
Other examples of KPWHRI health informatics research include projects using EHRs and secure electronic communications such as:
Examples of KPWHRI research in mobile health (mHealth) and user-centered design include:
“Our studies on using health IT to improve care are showing that we can achieve better outcomes when we shift care from the doctor’s office to where people live: in their homes—and online,” said Senior Investigator Beverly B. Green, MD, MPH.
Kirwan JP, Courcoulas AP, Cummings DE, Goldfine AB, Kashyap SR, Simonson DC, Arterburn DE, Gourash WF, Vernon AH, Jakicic JM, Patti ME, Wolski K, Schauer PR. Diabetes remission in the Diabetes Remission in the Alliance of Randomized Trials of Medicine Versus Metabolic Surgery in Type 2 Diabetes (ARMMS-T2D). Diabetes Care. 2022 Mar 23:dc212441. doi: 10.2337/dc21-2441. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Mangione-Smith R, Robinson JD, Zhou C, Stout JW, Fiks AG, Shalowitz M, Gerber JS, Burges D, Hedrick B, Warren L, Grundmeier RW, Kronman MP, Shone LP, Steffes J, Wright M, Heritage J. Fidelity evaluation of the dialogue around respiratory illness treatment (DART) program communication training. LID - S0738-3991(22)00104-5 [pii] LID - 10.1016/j.pec.2022.03.011 [doi] Patient Educ Couns. 2022 Mar 14:S0738-3991(22)00104-5. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2022.03.011 [Epub ahead of print] PubMed
Schuttner L, Hockett Sherlock S, Simons C, Ralston JD, Rosland AM, Nelson K, Lee JR, Sayre G. Factors affecting primary care physician decision-making for patients with complex multimorbidity: a qualitative interview study. BMC Prim Care. 2022;23(1):25. doi: 10.1186/s12875-022-01633-x. PubMed
Yu J, Pacheco JA, Ghosh AS, Luo Y, Weng C, Shang N, Benoit B, Carrell DS, Carroll RJ, Dikilitas O, Freimuth RR, Gainer VS, Hakonarson H, Hripcsak G, Kullo IJ, Mentch F, Murphy SN, Peissig PL, Ramirez AH, Walton N, Wei WQ, Rasmussen LV. Under-specification as the source of ambiguity and vagueness in narrative phenotype algorithm definitions. BMC Med Inform Decis Mak. 2022 Jan 28;22(1):23. doi: 10.1186/s12911-022-01759-z. PubMed
Bellows BK, Xu J, Sheppard JP, Schwartz JE, Shimbo D, Muntner P, McManus RJ, Moran AE, Bryant KB, Cohen LP, Bress AP, King JB, Shikany JM, Green BB, Yano Y, Clark Iii D, Zhang Y. Predicting out-of-office blood pressure in a diverse US population. Am J Hypertens. 2022 Jan 18:hpac005. doi: 10.1093/ajh/hpac005. Online ahead of print. PubMed
![]() Annie J. Hoopes, MD. MPHActing Assistant Investigator |
![]() James D. Ralston, MD, MPHSenior Investigator |
![]() Jennifer B. McClure, PhDDirector, Investigative Science |
![]() Beverly B. Green, MD, MPHSenior Investigator |
![]() Katharine A. Bradley, MD, MPHSenior Investigator |
![]() Eric B. Larson, MD, MPH, MACPSenior Investigator and former Executive Director, Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute; Former Vice President for Research and Health Care Innovation, Kaiser Permanente Washington |
![]() Paula Lozano, MD, MPHSenior Investigator, Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute |
![]() David S. Carrell, PhDAssociate Investigator |
![]() Cara C. Lewis, PhD, HSPPSenior Investigator |
![]() Yates Coley, PhDAssistant Biostatistics Investigator |
![]() Lynn DeBar, PhDSenior Investigator |
![]() Brian D. Williamson, PhDAssistant Biostatistics Investigator |