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​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Community Health

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Community Health ​​​​​​Research​​​​​​​

The Biostatistical Consulting Unit (BSCU) is committed to advancing Community Health (CH) research and supporting Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC) clinician researche​rs. In partnership with our Central Research Committee*​ (CRC) and Kaiser Permanente Community Health program, we he​​​​lp our clinicians develop competitive research proposals and implement impactful studies aligned with community health priorities. This funding opportunity runs in a one-year cycle, with the announcement coming out in late fall each year.  For more information about the CRCs funding opportunity, please visit their​ New Appli​cants* page​. 

If invited by the CRC, please review our guidance document and request a BSCU consultation h​er​e.​



​​Studies and Publications​​​

Fi​nd Studies

To explore studies led by Kaiser Permanente Northern California Community Health, select a clinical specialty:

Addiction Medicine Allergy Anesthesiology
Bariatric Surgery Cardiology Dermatology
Emergency Medicine Endocrinology Family Medicine
Gastroenterology General Surgery Geriatric Medicine
Gynecologic Oncology Head & Neck Surgery Hematology/Oncology
Hospital Medicine Infectious Disease Internal Medicine
Nephrology Neurology Nuclear Medicine​
Nursing Research Obstetrics & Gynecology Occupational Medicine
Oncology Ophthalmology Optometry
Orthopedics Pain Management Pathology
Pediatric Endocrinology Pediatric Hospital Medicine Pediatric Neurosurgery
Pediatrics Perinatology Physical Medicine
Plastic Surgery Podiatric Surgery Psychiatry
Radiology Rehabilitation Rheumatology
Thoracic Surgery Urogynecology Urology
Vascular Surgery


Fi​nd Publications

To explore publications led by Kaiser Permanente Northern California Community Health, select a clinical specialty:
​ ​​
​Addiction Medicine Allergy Anesthesiology
Cardiology Dermatology Emergency Medicine
Endocrinology Family Medicine Gastroenterology
General Surgery Gynecologic Oncology Head & Neck Surgery
Hematology/Oncology Hospital Medicine Infectious Disease
Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology
Nursing Research Obstetrics & Gynecology Oncology
Ophthalmology Pain Management Pediatric Endocrinology
Pediatrics Perinatology Plastic Surgery
Podiatric Surgery Psychiatry Radiology
Rehabilitation Rheumatology Thoracic Surgery
Urology

Click here to see the 2025 Learning Health System Outstanding Paper Award winners.



Program Reports​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

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2025 Annual Report

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2025 Executive Summary
Community Health

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Previous Reports

Consult​ation Requests​
​We offer the following services to CH applicants:​​​​


Every grant cycle, the CRC invites a select number of promising preliminary CH proposals to craft full applications with support from our team.  Our team will work with selected applicants for about 30 hours for 8-12​ weeks to develop their proposals in the following ways​:​
  • Help clinicians understand which KPNC data and data sources are available and best suited for this funding mechanism.
  • Conduct a feasibility analysis to understand if proposed data can be feasibly extracted from available electronic records or chart reviewed by a clinician within timeline and budget limits.
  • Inform appropriate study design and analytical plan based on research questions and aims.
  • Conduct a statistical power assessment to understand if sample size and analyses are aligned with proposed study design and level of evidence.
  • Provide advice on human subjects and data-sharing regulatory oversight of the proposed project.
  • Develop and justify projected biostatistician and programmer effort in the application budget.
  • Conduct a quality assurance review prior to final submission to the Central Research Committee.
​​For the most recent application forms, timelines, and instructions, please visit the CRCs New Applica​nts*.

Community Health applications developed by our team and funded by the CRC are typically implemented with our support . . You will be assigned an analyst who will become part of your team. Funded teams have one calendar year to collect and analyze proposed data). Our team helps CH grant recipients implement their projects in the following ways:​:

  • Finalize study design and timeline based on feedback from CRC reviewers.
  • Extract and assemble the study cohort based on appropriate diagnostic, procedural, pharmaceutical, or healthcare utilization codes.
  • Construct a structured data collection tool to help clinicians chart review in a standardized way and to minimize selection and information bias.
  • Extract, clean, and merge exposure, covariate, and outcome data into an analyzable dataset.
  • Conduct statistical analyses in foundational stages, typically starting with descriptive statistics, then conducting bivariate and multivariable analyses, if appropriate.
  • Provide insight into the interpretation of statistical results.

After analysis is completed, teams are expected to create presentations and manuscripts to broadly disseminate their research findings​. Teams supported by the BSCU have two additional years following the project implementation year to receive up to 24 hours of scholarly outcomes support. Our team helps CH recipients create scholarly outcomes in the following ways:​

  • Co-create tables and figures with clinical investigators based on authorship guidelines.
  • Summarize how electronic data were extracted from our data sources.
  • Craft the analysis section with details on how statistical tests were performed and multivariable models were assembled.
  • Help clinicians frame findings based on the level of evidence and study design.
  • Assist in addressing peer reviewer feedback. Significant revision requests should be sent to BSCU leadership and will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Manuscripts supported by the ​BSCU need to go through two rounds of review before external journal submission. For details on that process, please consult with your assigned BSCU programmer and our Scholarly Outcomes Guidance​​.

For comprehensive guidance on developing, implementing, and publishing your idea, explore our available ​Re​​so​urces.

*KP network required