Senior Investigator Paula Lozano, MD, MPH, is a pediatrician and medical director for research and translation at the Washington Permanente Medical Group. She also co-directs the Center for Accelerating Care Transformation (ACT Center) at Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI). Dr. Lozano’s work focuses on helping Kaiser Permanente Washington succeed as a learning health system, where research informs practice and practice informs research.
“The challenges facing health care are so complex,” she said. “The learning health system seems like the best way to deliver on our promise to provide the highest quality, patient-centered, effective, and affordable care to Kaiser Permanente Washington members.”
Dr. Lozano founded Kaiser Permanente Washington’s Learning Health System (LHS) Program in 2017 and continues to lead the organization’s learning health system work through the ACT Center. Established in 2021, the ACT Center brought the LHS Program together with the MacColl Center for Health Care Innovation to help health systems nationwide accelerate care transformation and achieve lasting, equitable improvements in care delivery.
The ACT Center’s learning health system work represents Kaiser Permanente Washington’s investment in the use of rigorous evidence and research methods ─ in partnership with frontline clinicians, leaders, and patients ─ to promote a culture of continuous learning. Deploying the advanced scientific methods available at KPWHRI, the ACT Center helps Kaiser Permanente Washington improve health, make care more affordable, and provide a good patient experience. Dr. Lozano currently leads the Care Management for Chronic Pain program, which aims to promote opioid safety and whole-person pain care.
As former co-director of the CATALyST Learning Health Systems Scholars K12 Training Program, Dr. Lozano trained and mentored multidisciplinary junior faculty at KPWHRI, University of Washington (UW), and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Since January 2024, Dr. Lozano has co-led the Washington Learning Health System Embedded Scientist and Training Research Center (LHS E-STAR Center), which aims to simultaneously train a diverse set of scholars while working in partnership with safety net clinics to transform primary care. Washington LHS E-STAR Center is a collaboration between KPWHRI, UW, VA, and primary care organizations. This work is funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI).
Dr. Lozano's other research interests have included health behavior-change, obesity, self-management of chronic conditions, and health disparities. Ongoing projects include an evaluation of Vayu Health, a value-based payment ecosystem for Medicaid beneficiaries living with type 1 and type 2 diabetes, and the Rural Health Laboratory, an initiative to identify and address health insecurities faced by rural communities.
Dr. Lozano’s work has focused on improving health care quality through changing the delivery system, supporting clinical decision-making by providers, and supporting patients and parents in health behavior change. She has also served as an investigator for several U.S. Preventive Services Task Force evidence reviews conducted by the Kaiser Permanente Research Affiliates Evidence-based Practice Center.
Dr. Lozano practiced general pediatrics at Harborview Medical Center and Seattle Children's Hospital while on the faculty at the UW Department of Pediatrics, where she taught residents and medical students. She also served as director of the UW Primary Care Research Fellowship, funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), to provide research training in the primary care disciplines of internal medicine, family medicine, and pediatrics. She is an adjunct professor of health systems and population health at the UW School of Public Health.
Brief behavioral interventions; co-morbid conditions; motivational interviewing; problems-solving therapy; self-management support
Asthma; anxiety and depression; Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD); chronic illness management; disadvantaged children's health care services; Medicaid managed care
Child and adolescent health; collaborative approaches to transforming health care systems; patient/family self-management of chronic conditions; self-care
Childhood obesity prevention and control
Adams RJ, Fuhlbrigge A, Finkelstein JA, Lozano P, Livingston JM, Weiss KB, Weiss ST. Use of inhaled anti-inflammatory medication in children with asthma in managed care settings. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2001;155(4):501-7. PubMed
Adams RJ, Fuhlbrigge A, Finkelstein JA, Lozano P, Livingston JM, Weiss KB, Weiss ST. Impact of inhaled controller therapy on hospitalization and emergency room visits for children with asthma. Pediatrics. 2001;107(4):706-11. PubMed
Donahue JG, Fuhlbrigge AL, Finkelstein JA, Fagan J, Livingston JM, Lozano P, Platt R, Weiss ST, Weiss KB. Asthma pharmacotherapy and utilization by children in 3 managed care organizations. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2000;106(6):1108-14. PubMed
Finkelstein JA, Lozano P, Shulruff R, Inui TS, Soumerai SB, Ng M, Weiss KB. Self-reported physician practices for children with asthma: Are national guidelines followed? Pediatrics. 2000;106(4 Suppl):886-96. PubMed
Lozano P, Finkelstein JA, Carey VJ, Hecht J, Laranjo N, Arduino, Shulruff R, Weiss KB. Asthma medication use and disease burden among children in a primary care population: Are we following the guidelines? Ped Res. 2000;47:207A.
Lieu TA, Farber HJ, Lozano P, Finkelstein JA, Chi FW, Jensvold NG, Capra AM, Quesenberry CP, Selby JV. Racial/ethnic variation in asthma status and processes of care among children with managed Medicaid. Ped Res. 2000;47:152A.
Finkelstein JA, Lozano P, Farber HJ, Streiff KA, Miroshnik I, Lieu TA. Under-use of controller medications among Medicaid-insured asthma patients. Ped Res. 2000;47:188A.
Farber HJ, Lieu TA, Lozano P, Capra AM, Chi FW, Jensvold NG, Finkelstein JA. Parent understanding of role of asthma medication in a Medicaid managed care population. Ped Res. 2000;47:477A.
Silverstein M, Iverson L, Lozano P. Family acculturation modifies the effect of a clinic-based literacy intervention. Ped Res. 2000;47:98A.
Ludman E, Curry S, Grothaus L, Graham E, Stout J, Lozano P. Design, implementation, and acceptance of a pediatric clinic-based smoking cessation intervention for low-income women. Ann Behav Med. 2000;22:S094.
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