Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine (KPSOM) faculty members Reina Haque, PhD, MPH, Vikram Attaluri, MD, Robert Cooper, MD, and Motahar Basam, MD, have coauthored a study showing that Kaiser Permanente members in Southern California diagnosed with colon cancer have a lower risk of premature deaths compared to patients treated at other hospitals in the region. The study also shows the reduced risk is particularly pronounced among individuals in the lowest socioeconomic group.
“Our study shows that disparities in survival after colon cancer diagnoses exist among insured individuals in Southern California, specifically by socioeconomic status, but these disparities were mitigated among [Southern California] members,” said Dr. Haque. “It’s possible that [our] coordinated care system helped reduce differences in premature deaths that may be related to lower socioeconomic status since we didn’t see a higher risk of death in this group compared to the more affluent group.”
The study analyzed data from approximately 16,000 insured adults in Southern California diagnosed with colon cancer, of which 26 percent were Kaiser Permanente members in the region. Results showed that the overall mortality rate was 25 percent lower compared to other insured patients in the region.
