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.
McCurry SM, Von Korff M, Morin CM, Cunningham A, Pike KC, Thakral M, Wellman R, Yeung K, Zhu W, Vitiello MV. Telephone interventions for co-morbid insomnia and osteoarthritis pain: the OsteoArthritis and Therapy for Sleep (OATS) randomized trial design. Contemp Clin Trials. 2019 Oct 12:105851. doi: 10.1016/j.cct.2019.105851. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Shang N, Liu C, Rasmussen LV, Ta CN, Caroll RJ, Benoit B, Lingren T, Dikilitas O, Mentch FD, Carrell DS, Wei WQ, Luo Y, Gainer VS, Kullo IJ, Pacheco JA, Hakonarson H, Walunas TL, Denny JC, Wiley K, Murphy SN, Hripcsak G, Weng C. Making work visible for electronic phenotype implementation: lessons learned from the eMERGE network. J Biomed Inform. 2019 Sep 19:103293. doi: 10.1016/j.jbi.2019.103293. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Gruß I, Firemark A, Mayhew M, McMullen CK, DeBar LL. Taking opioids in times of crisis: institutional oversight, chronic pain and suffering in an integrated healthcare delivery system in the U.S. Int J Drug Policy. 2019 Dec;74:62-68. doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2019.08.009. Epub 2019 Sep 16. PubMed
Green BB, Vollmer WM, Keast E, Petrik AF, Coronado GD. Challenges in assessing population reach in a pragmatic trial. Prev Med Rep. 2019 May 29;15:100910. doi: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2019.100910. eCollection 2019. PubMed
Carrell DS, Cronkite DJ, Li MR, Nyemba S, Malin BA, Aberdeen JS, Hirschman L. The machine giveth and the machine taketh away: a parrot attack on clinical text deidentified with hiding in plain sight. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2019 Dec 1;26(12):1536-1544. doi: 10.1093/jamia/ocz114. PubMed
![]() James D. Ralston, MD, MPHSenior Investigator |
![]() Jennifer B. McClure, PhDDirector, Investigative Science |
![]() Beverly B. Green, MD, MPHSenior Investigator |
![]() Katharine A. Bradley, MD, MPHSenior Investigator |
![]() Paula Lozano, MD, MPHSenior Investigator; Director, ACT Center |
![]() Yates Coley, PhDAssociate Biostatistics Investigator |
![]() Brian D. Williamson, PhDAssistant Biostatistics Investigator |
![]() Annie Hoopes, MD, MPHActing Assistant Investigator |
![]() Claire Allen, MPHManager, Collaborative Science |
![]() Annie Piccorelli, PhDSenior Collaborative Biostatistician |