Resources

The following resources are available to eligible residents, fellows, and clinicians interested in collaborating with our team on research or operational projects within Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC). Our resource sections are organized by scholarly research project phases:

Determine your Eligibility

The following groups are eligible for Division of Research (DOR) Biostatistical Consulting Unit (BSCU) research support:

Residents and Fellows currently enrolled or recently graduated from Kaiser Permanente Northern California Graduate Medical Education (GME) Programs. Select affiliate GME programs may be eligible for support, as determined by our regional GME leadership.
KPNC Clinicians seeking support to develop a Community Health grant. KPNC clinicians should review Community Health Programs Research Funding* and determine their eligibility in discussion with their Local Research Chair (LRC)* . Note that KPNC clinicians can explore additional research grant opportunities here: DARE (Delivery Science & Applied Research) Funding.

Project Development

The resources below will guide you in generating a project idea, selecting an appropriate study type, evaluating the regulatory pathway, and preparing a BSCU consultation request.

Explore and Generate your Initial Idea

Conduct a literature review: KP Clinical Library* provides KPNC learners and clinicians access to clinical journals and facilitates access to a KPNC medical librarian for assistance with literature reviews.
Access citation management software: Citation Management*
Browse published scholarly outcomes from projects led by KPNC medical students, residents, fellows, and clinicians.

Guidance for formulating good research questions (source: Covvey, McClendon & Gionfriddo, 2023)
To preview expected study activities by project phase, review: What to Expect when Consulting with BSCU*
Complete general research training:

Determine the Type of Project you Should Pursue

Case Report and Series: In KPNC, we define a case report as an assessment of one patient, and a case series as an evaluation of fewer than 5 patients. Refer to Case Report and Series Guidance* for detailed definitions and instructions. Visit the Research Determinations* webpage for instructions on how to submit a case report/series approval request.

Operational or Quality Improvement (QI) Projects: If your idea is operational in nature and aims to evaluate existing local practices with a goal of documenting and correcting deficiencies, your project may qualify for exemption from Institutional Review Board (IRB) review. Visit the Research Determinations* office webpage for instructions on how to submit an exemption request.

Determining Whether a Project Involves Human Subjects Research that Requires IRB Review: Guidance and Definitions*
Research Determination Requests Form*
KPNC Patient Consent Form*

Clinical Research: Studies involving human participants to evaluate treatments, interventions, diagnostics, or epidemiological patterns and determinants of health and disease in populations.

IRB & Research Compliance Wiki*
KPNC Investigator Manual*
KPNC Representation of Activities Preparatory to Research (RAPToR) Form*
List of required trainings to conduct KPNC research: Complete Required IRB Training*

Complete the KP Learn Training*: “HIPAA Privacy Rule & Research, Hawaii Region” (Course ID#00786090)
Complete the CITI Training and select Kaiser Permanente as your organization:

Human Subjects Protection Basic: Biomedical and Social-Behavioral-Educational Modules
Financial Conflict of Interest: Not Federally Funded Module (required in most cases) and Federally Funded Module (if applicable)

Create an IRBNet Account*
Link to IRBNet

Links to IRB templates, including protocol templates and supplementary forms, are routinely updated. The most recent versions can be found on IRBNet by clicking on “Forms and Templates” in the upper left hand corner.

Submitting a Request to the BSCU

Residents and Fellows currently enrolled or recently graduated from Kaiser Permanente Northern California Graduate Medical Education (GME) Programs:

Review our Guidance Document* to understand how to select a consultation type and submit a BSCU consultation request.
Project Intake Portal: BSCU Graduate Medical Education (GME) Consultation Request Form*
Refer to our Programming Hourly Limits* for resident- and fellow-level projects.
Guidance* for teams requesting GME funding for a non-BSCU DOR programmer.

KPNC Clinicians seeking support to develop and implement a Community Health (CH) grant:

Review our guidance document to understand how to submit a BSCU consultation request.
The most current versions of CH Forms and Instructions*.
BSCU Community Health Consultation Request Form.

Developing a Project with the BSCU

Statistical Power Overview (source: Scribbr)
Choosing Appropriate Statistical Tests (source: BMJ)
Example Table and Figure Shells* for desired scholarly outcomes
Example Data Collection Tool* for clinical chart review

Project Implementation

After the initial development of your project and following regulatory approval or exemption, you will be ready to implement your project. Note that the BSCU typically consults on data-only projects, utilizing existing data from KPNC data sources. We encourage you to review the following resources once you reach this stage.

Data-Only Study Designs:

Observational Study Designs Overview (source: Mann)
Conducting Chart Reviews and Data Extraction (source: Vassar & Holzmann)
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) at Kaiser Permanente*

Non-Data-Only Study Designs:

Survey development and analysis:

Questionnaire Tip Sheet (source: Harvard University Program on Survey Research)
“How to” Analysis of Survey Data: Methods and Examples (source: PW Skills)

Scholarly Outcomes

We support a broad range of scholarly outcomes, which can be internal (Grand Rounds, Continuing Medical Education talks) or external (peer-review publications and conference presentations) to Kaiser Permanente. Below are resources to help support your development of scholarly outcomes.

Presentations

Up-to-date templates for presentations, posters and other projects maintained by Kaiser Permanente Research: Graphics Templates – inside DOR

Manuscripts

Read this guidance when preparing to develop a manuscript: BSCU-Supported Manuscript Development and Submission Process
Helpful tips in developing a paper: Manuscript Development Roadmap (Source: BSCU)
Access citation management software: Citation Management*

*KP network required

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​​​Determine your Eligibility

​​Project Development

​​Project Implementation

​Data-Only Study Designs:​

Non-Data-Only Study Designs:​

Survey development and analysis: