Kaiser Foundation Hospital

Introduction: Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a hyperglycemic crisis that accounts for annual medical costs of ~2.4 billion USD and over 500,000 hospital days. Standardized DKA protocols have been shown to reduce mortality, shorten length of stay (LOS), and improve overall patient outcomes. Recent studies suggest that the use of a two-bag system in adults with DKA improves time to anion gap closure, lowers incidence of hypoglycemia and hypokalemia, and decreases resource utilization. This quality improvement (QI) initiative aimed to integrate the two-bag system into a modified protocol in an adult medical ICU and assess its impact on time to DKA resolution. Methods: This single-center, retrospective pre-post study included ICU patients treated for DKA between 12/2023–05/2024 (pre) and 12/2024–05/2025 (post). Patients were excluded if they had combined DKA and HHS or received insulin for non-DKA diagnoses. The modified DKA protocol focused on a fixed insulin dose and nursing driven fluid titration. The primary outcome was time to anion gap closure. Secondary outcomes were ICU and hospital length of stay, and number of fluid changes per patient. Safety outcomes included hypoglycemic and hypokalemic events, and protocol adherence. A voluntary pre and post nursing survey was also given to evaluate ease of bedside administration. Results: A total of 23 patients met inclusion criteria for the pre group and 9 patients for the post. The median time to gap closure was 10.7 vs 9 hours in the pre vs post group. Median ICU LOS was 3 days for both groups, and hospital LOS was 7 vs 12 days for the pre vs post group. Fluid was changed a median of 2 vs 0 times in the pre vs post group. Hypoglycemic events occurred in 26% vs 11% in the pre vs post group, while hypokalemic events occurred in 30% vs 33% in the pre vs post group. Protocol adherence increased to 54% in the post group from 17% in the pre. Nursing survey revealed the new protocol had clearer instructions, decreased IV fluid delays, and improved nursing usability. Conclusions: A two-bag modified DKA protocol in a medical ICU slightly improved time to anion gap closure, did not impact LOS, and had less hypoglycemic events.

Nursing stands at a critical inflection point—shaped by global complexity, rapid technological change, and the enduring moral commitment to human caring. This article explores contemporary challenges faced by the profession, including organizational hierarchies, structural bias, funding instability, and persistent gender inequities. Yet it also illuminates the profound hope emerging through special programs like the Kaiser Permanente Scholars Academy, which have strengthened disciplinary identity, advanced academic progression, expanded public policy engagement, and elevated community partnerships. By reframing investment in nursing education as a strategic imperative rather than an operational expense, the article argues for sustainable funding models that support research, innovation, and workforce development. Finally, it examines the future implications of artificial intelligence and emerging technologies, emphasizing that while tools will evolve, the core of nursing—human presence, ethical judgment, and compassionate service—remains irreplaceable.

BackgroundAn unexplained link between early viral infection and later weight gain has been observed in the US and internationally. In our population of children at Kaiser Permanente Southern California, we seek to confirm this association and determine the magnitude of the absolute weight increase.MethodsIn a retrospective cohort of children born 2008 – 2012, frequency of infection in infancy (≤12m), timing of first infection (< 6m vs 6-12m), and antibiotic use, class, timing, and frequency were assessed relative to absolute weight and body mass index (BMI) at age 4-6 and 10 years. Patients with low birthweight and prematurity were excluded. Maternal BMI, breastfeeding, birthweight, delivery type, and race/ethnicity were included in multivariable regression; height was also included when absolute weight was the outcome variable. Weight outcomes were compared in uninfected vs infected without antibiotic treatment in infancy (IWOT); and IWOT vs those infected who received antibiotic treatment (IWAT), using logistic regression analysis for obesity outcomes and linear regression for absolute weight.ResultsWe identified N=66,687 children at 4-6y and N= 46,462 at 10y for analysis. Of the latter, 7,918 had been uninfected, 18,144 had IWOT, and 20,400 had IWAT. The IWOT group had higher rates of obesity vs uninfected (24% vs 19% at 10y; see figure 1), reflected in multivariable analysis at 4-6y (OR 1.11 [1.03-1.2]; p=0.004) and 10y (OR 1.14 [1.06-1.22]; p < 0.001), in a "dose-dependent" manner (Figure 2). The corresponding absolute weight increase (+0.55 kg [+0.3-0.8] at 10y; p< 0.001) was also dose-dependent (Figure 3). Compared to untreated infections, the additional contribution of antibiotic use to future obesity was minimal (OR 1.05 [0.99-1.1]; p=0.09) and not dose-dependent. Of the 10 year olds, most had upper respiratory infections (27,562 patients had at least one URI; 59%), ear infections (16,404 patients; 35%), or infections without a specified site (including viral syndromes; 11,822; 25%) in infancy.ConclusionA significant (14% at 10y) increase in obesity after early infection is confirmed, with a small (+0.55kg) corresponding increase in average weight. Prospective study in specific subgroups or with specific viruses of interest would be warranted.DisclosuresAll Authors: No reported disclosures

Hospital-acquired venous thromboembolism (HA VTE) is a preventable complication in hospitalized patients. We aimed to examine the use of pharmacologic prophylaxis (pPPX) and compare two risk assessment methods for HA VTE: a retrospective electronic Padua Score (ePaduaKP) and admitting clinician's choice of risk within the admission orderset (low, moderate, or high). We retrospectively analyzed prophylaxis orders for adult medical admissions (2013-2019) at Kaiser Permanente Northern California, excluding surgical and ICU patients. ePaduaKP was calculated for all admissions. For a subset of these admissions, clinician-assigned HA VTE risk was extracted. Descriptive pPPX utilization rates between ePaduaKP and clinician-assigned risk as well as concordance between ePaduaKP and clinician-assigned risk. Among 849,059 encounters, 82.2% were classified as low risk by ePaduaKP, with 42.3% receiving pPPX. In the subset with clinician-assigned risk (608,512 encounters), low and high ePaduaKP encounters were classified as moderate risk in 87.5% and 92.0% of encounters, respectively. Overall, 56.7% of encounters with moderate clinician-assigned risk received pPPX, compared to 7.2% of encounters with low clinician-assigned risk. pPPX use occurred in a large portion of low ePaduaKP risk encounters. Clinicians frequently assigned moderate risk to encounters at admission irrespective of their ePaduaKP risk when retrospectively examined. We hypothesize that the current orderset design may have negatively influenced clinician-assigned risk choice as well as pPPX utilization. Future work should explore optimizing pPPX for high-risk patients only.

Background: Prior studies reported that only half of stroke patients arrived at emergency departments (ED) via emergency medical services (EMS). We sought to assess predictors of ED mode of arrival and its effects on acute stroke care and inpatient outcomes in a large racial-ethnically diverse cohort. Methods: In 2016, we launched a system-wide standardized telestroke program for 21 certified stroke centers. Non-cancelled stroke alerts included those patients who were potential candidates for further workup for acute ischemic stroke treatment. This study cohort included non-cancelled stroke alerts seen by Telestroke in 2021. Assessment included demographics, ED arrival mode , initial NIH Stroke Scale (NIHSS), neuroimaging results, IV thrombolytic, door-to-needle (DTN) time, large vessel occlusion (LVO), thrombectomy referral, hospital length of stay and discharge disposition. Clustered logistic regression was used to evaluate ED arrival mode’s effects on short-term outcomes. Results: Of the 7744 stroke alerts seen by Telestroke in 2021, 3264 (42.2%) were non-canceled. Among these, 2014 (61.7%) were in the early window (0-4.5 hours from last seen well). More of those arriving in the early window came via EMS compared to those seen in the extended window [1625 (80.7%) versus 729 (58.3%) respectively]. Among non-canceled ED stroke alerts, compared to patients who arrived via EMS, walk-in patients were younger, more Hispanic, had lower initial NIHSS scores, longer times for ED to contact Telestroke, slower DTN times, but less mortality [Table]. In multivariate analysis, walk-in patients were less likely to have a DTN time within 30 minutes (OR=0.37, 95% CI 0.25-0.34; p=&lt;0.001). Conclusions: In our cohort, there were several differences between walk-in patients and those who arrived via EMS. Further research is needed to understand these differences, the reasons for choosing walk-in, and whether ED mode of arrival affects clinical outcomes.

INTRODUCTION:Esophageal 24-hour pH/impedance testing is routinely performed to diagnose gastroesophageal reflux disease. Interpretation of these studies is time-intensive for expert physicians and has high inter-reader variability. There are no commercially available machine learning tools to assist with automated identification of reflux events in these studies.METHODS:A machine learning system to identify reflux events in 24-hour pH/impedance studies was developed, which included an initial signal processing step and a machine learning model. Gold-standard reflux events were defined by a group of expert physicians. Performance metrics were computed to compare the machine learning system, current automated detection software (Reflux Reader v6.1), and an expert physician reader.RESULTS:The study cohort included 45 patients (20/5/20 patients in the training/validation/test sets, respectively). The mean age was 51 (standard deviation 14.5) years, 47% of patients were male, and 78% of studies were performed off proton-pump inhibitor. Comparing the machine learning system vs current automated software vs expert physician reader, area under the curve was 0.87 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.85–0.89) vs 0.40 (95% CI 0.37–0.42) vs 0.83 (95% CI 0.81–0.86), respectively; sensitivity was 68.7% vs 61.1% vs 79.4%, respectively; and specificity was 80.8% vs 18.6% vs 87.3%, respectively.DISCUSSION:We trained and validated a novel machine learning system to successfully identify reflux events in 24-hour pH/impedance studies. Our model performance was superior to that of existing software and comparable to that of a human reader. Machine learning tools could significantly improve automated interpretation of pH/impedance studies.

261 Background: Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) plus either Abiraterone, Docetaxel or Enzalutamide (ADE) improves overall survival (OS) of men with metastatic M1 castrate-sensitive prostate cancer (mCSPC), compared to ADT alone and is currently standard of care. Men with mCSPC with a point mutation of the speckle-type pox virus and zinc finger mutation (mutSPOP) derive superior response to ADT compared to wild type SPOP. The additive benefit of ADE to ADT in this subclass of CSPC is unclear. We sought to evaluate the benefit of therapy in patients with mutSPOP in a real-world setting. Methods: Between November 2017 and July 2022, 1002, patients in the Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC) health system with advanced prostate cancer had tumor specimens examined by next generation sequencing (NGS). Of these patients, we retrospectively identified 70 mCSPC patients with mutSPOP. Patient records were reviewed to determine baseline characteristics, therapy for CSPC, subsequent therapy for Castrate Resistant Prostate Cancer (CRPC), and clinical outcome. The primary outcome was progression-free survival (PFS) for patients who received ADT alone or ADT plus ADE. PFS was defined as time to either PSA progression by PCWG2 criteria, clinical progression, or time to next line of therapy. Results: Median age for the 70 patients with mutSPOP was 75 years (range 50-91). Thirty-six (51%) were non-Hispanic white; 11 (16%) were African American; and 13 (19%) were Asian. F133 was the most frequently mutated allele (64%), TP53 was the most common co-mutated gene (27%), and mutations in MSH2, MSH6 and BRCA1 were identified in one patient each. Two patients had concurrent ERG fusion. Thirty-six patients (51%) had a Gleason score 8-10 and 48 (69%) were diagnosed with de-novo metastatic disease. Twenty-seven patients (39%) received ADT alone, 41 (59%) received ADT + ADE, 2 patients elected observation only. PFS was 28.1 months (mos) for ADT alone vs 35 for ADT+ADE (p=0.08). Twenty-nine patients (41%) received 2nd line therapy at CRPC; among them 24 received ADT plus Abiraterone or Enzalutamide. Median PFS for all the CRPC patients who received 2nd line treatment was 15mos. Median PFS for CRPC patients who received 2nd line treatment with Abiraterone, or Enzalutamide was 15.3 mos. Median overall survival for the entire group was 173 mos (95% CI 135-NR). Conclusions: In this real-world study within KPNC, we confirmed the durable benefit of ADT based therapy in patients with mutSPOP. Patients with mutSPOP derived similar benefit regardless of 1st line therapy (ADT vs ADT + ADE). We also noted durable responses to abiraterone or enzalutamide for CRPC after initial treatment with ADE for CSPC. Confirmation of these findings from an another large NGS database is ongoing and will be reported later.