Kaiser Permanente Research Project Awarded Funding by Centers for Disease Control; Research Project in Hawaii to Focus on Priority Prevention.

OAKLAND, Calif.--(BW HealthWire)--Oct. 18, 1999--

The Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, Hawaii (CHRH) has been awarded a grant of $742,000 from the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to study the quality of prevention services within Kaiser Permanente and look at ways to improve the delivery of preventive care. The study will last for two years and is a joint collaboration between the CHRH and the CDC.

"This study will help medical care systems deliver the best possible preventive care," says Thomas M. Vogt, MD, MPH, principal investigator of the study and director of the CHRH program. "We believe that most medical care systems need to re-evaluate the preventive care services they provide. Some much-needed services are delivered too seldom, while other, less vital services are overused."

Services that tend to be used less often than they could be include behavioral advice and counseling relating to issues such as smoking and diet. Such services can have an enormous affect on a patient's health, and are often neglected by medical care systems. Cholesterol-screening tests are a good example of overused preventive services; they are recommended every five years but often performed much more frequently. Blood pressure screening tests, which are recommended every two years for otherwise healthy people, are also generally performed more often than needed.

This study will determine and define the best ways to assess quality of care, and identify areas where resources might be shifted to improve quality.

The project will use forms of evidence-based medicine to better focus resources used for preventive medical care. "This research should lead to preventive care that is much more effective in reducing illness."

The CHRH was begun in February, 1999 as a collaborative effort between Kaiser Permanente Hawaii and the Northwest Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research in Portland, OR. The purpose of CHRH is to conduct research that will improve health and the quality of medical care available to all persons. The Center is funded primarily through research grants from the federal government and large foundations.

Kaiser Permanente is America's leading integrated health care organization. Founded in 1945, it is a non-profit, group-practice prepayment program with headquarters in Oakland, Calif. Kaiser Permanente serves the health care needs of 8.5 million members in 17 states and the District of Columbia. Today, it encompasses Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc., Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, and the Permanente Medical Groups, as well as an affiliation with Group Health Cooperative, based in Seattle. Nationwide, Kaiser Permanente includes about 90,000 technical, administrative and clerical employees and about 10,000 physicians representing all specialities.