Kaiser Permanente HealthConnect Enables Care Improvement and Transformation

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OAKLAND, Calif., March 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- WhileKaiser Permanente is
widely known for being a leader in health information and the use of electronic
health records, a less known fact is how their class-leading clinical technology
is fueling transformational health research and clinical practices.

Kaiser Permanente published nearly 1,000 articles in 2012. The body of work
demonstrates the tremendous power of Kaiser Permanente HealthConnect, the
largest private electronic health record system in the world.

Leveraging Kaiser Permanente's paperless patient record database, researchers
discovered, among other things, that protection against the whooping cough
vaccine wanes during the five years after vaccination and the HPV vaccine is
not associated with increased sexual activity in young girls. This research
made a difference in clinical care, including updated guidelines and clinical
advisory recommendations, as well as sparking conversations between doctors and
patients everywhere.

"Kaiser Permanente is unique because we both pay for and deliver care - so we
are in the business of keeping people healthy and effectively managing
illnesses. A seamless flow of information among all of our clinicians enables us
to perform at the highest levels," said Elizabeth McGlynn, PhD, director of the
Kaiser Permanente Center for Effectiveness and Safety Research. "And our
researchers are able to use this clinically detailed information to answer
critical questions about what interventions and systems are safest and most
effective for which patients. Doing this work in a delivery system also means we
can translate those insights back into policy and practice."

Kaiser Permanente operates one of the largest non-university research programs
in the United States. Kaiser Permanente clinicians and researchers have
approximately 2,000 studies in progress at any given time and they publish
900-1,000 articles annually. Using data from the all-electronic health record to
conduct studies that would be more expensive and time consuming in a paper-based
system, Kaiser Permanente researchers explore a number of health-related topics,
including how vaccines, medications and lifestyle factors affect the whole
population.

KP HealthConnect also helps to improve clinical outcomes at Kaiser Permanente
through seamless care coordination, providing access to patients' records for
all their doctors, pharmacists and specialists. And the system delivers
information at the point of care about what treatments and protocols are
recommended based on analyses.

"Kaiser Permanente HealthConnect makes our great physicians even better. By
analyzing longitudinal data on real clinical encounters, treatments and
outcomes, we are identifying what really works," said Scott Young, MD,
executive director of the Kaiser Permanente Care Management Institute. "We then
translate that research into practice by creating actionable clinical guidelines
that are available in real time in the exam room and at the bedside. We're
making the right thing easier to do. The result has been lower mortality rates
from heart attacks, strokes, cancer and sepsis than the rest of the country."

Research Influencing Changes in Clinical Guidelines

In 2012, research facilitated by KP HealthConnect supported clinical change,
including guideline and advisory changes from Kaiser Permanente and federal
agencies. Most importantly, the findings informed conversations between doctors
and patients about treatment. For example, researchers used KP HealthConnect to
determine that microscopic traces of blood in urine samples do not necessarily
indicate cancer, as the medical community previously thought. Due to those
findings, Kaiser Permanente Southern California released new practice
guidelines, significantly reducing unnecessary exposure to radiation.

Similarly, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration updated its safety advisories
in 2012 to include the increased risk of blood clots with birth control pills
containing a progesterone-mimicking hormone, based on epidemiological data
including a Kaiser Permanente study.

Helping Patients with Medication Adherence

In an effort to advance patient care, a number of Kaiser Permanente studies in
2012 used health care records to study trends in medication adherence.
Researchers found mail-order pharmacies improve adherence and reduce health
care disparities, and automated phone calls are effective tools for
encouraging patients to pick up their prescriptions. They also found patients
connected to the tools on kp.org are "highly confident" in their ability to
manage chronic conditions and have improved health outcomes.

Using Research to Improve Clinical Care

In part because of its commitment to integration and translating research into
meaningful clinical change, Kaiser Permanente is a leader in health care quality
across hundreds of patient quality measures. Nearly all of Kaiser Permanente's
hospitals have the top score of "A" for patient safety from the Leapfrog Group,
and the health system leads the nation with the most No. 1 rankings in
effectiveness-of-care measures among commercial care plans from the National
Committee for Quality Assurance. In addition, Kaiser Permanente's implant
registries, which rely on Kaiser Permanente HealthConnect, recently won the 2012
annual John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Award, sponsored by The
National Quality Forumand The Joint Commission. These registries are models of
integration across medical centers in nine states and they represent strong
partnerships among health plan administration, hospitals and physician medical
groups united to improve the quality of care for patients.

About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We
are recognized as one of America's leading health care providers and
not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide
high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our
members and the communities we serve. We currently serve more than 9 million
members in nine states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and
patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal
physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical
teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and
tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery
and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to
care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of
community health. For more information, go to: kp.org/newscenter.

2012 Translational Medicine Highlights

*Kaiser Permanente researchers found that microscopic hematuria - blood in
urine that can't be seen by the naked eye - does not necessarily indicate the
presence of cancer, as the medical community previously presumed. Based on the
results of the study, Kaiser Permanente Southern California will provide new
practice guidelines for the evaluation of hematuria in 2013.

* Kaiser Permanente researchers used electronic health record data to discover
protection against whooping cough wanes during the five years after the fifth
dose of the vaccine. The study helped spark a national conversation about how
the current class of whooping- cough vaccines may need to be tweaked and how
parents can best protect their children.

*A Kaiser Permanente study of girls ages 11-12 confirmed the human
papillomavirus vaccine is not associated with an increase in pregnancy, sexually
transmitted infections, or contraceptive counseling. The study was cited as part
of the reason at least one school board overturned its ban on HPV vaccine
administration at school.

*A study of new users of hormonal birth control found an increased risk of
blockage of arteries and blood clots associated with drospirenone-containing
birth control pills. Based on epidemiological data, including the Kaiser
Permanente study, the Food and Drug Administration updated its safety advisory
to include the increased risk of blood clots with birth control pills containing
drospirenone and urged women to talk to their health care professionals about
their risks for blood clots before deciding which birth control method to use.

*A study of Kaiser Permanente members found patients prescribed a
cholesterol-lowering medication were 1.6 times more likely to pick it up from
the pharmacy if they received automated phone and mail reminders. Based on the
results of the study, Kaiser Permanente Southern California implemented a new
regional outreach program in April 2012. The program sends reminders to about
2,200 members each month.

For more information, contact:
Catherine Saunders, CSaunders@golinharris.com, 202-585-2603

SOURCE Kaiser Permanente