Lawrence J. Walter, MA

Larry J. Walter, MA, is the Administrative Director for Strategic Programming at the Division of Research (DOR), Kaiser Permanente, Northern California. Since joining the Division in 1989, Mr. Walter has conducted research and evaluation projects related to Kaiser Permanente's mental health and chemical dependency treatment services. Mr. Walter's other responsibilities include managing DOR's Strategic Programming Group, leading the Division’s HIPAA Privacy Rule compliance efforts, and chairing the Data Committee, which provides oversight for departmental information technology activities.

Mr. Walter’s research interests include psychiatric and chemical dependency services quality improvement, utilization and cost analysis, and the use of automated clinical and administrative databases in health services research. He received his Master's degree in Psychology from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1974.

Current Positions:

	Administrative Director for Strategic Programming, Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente, Northern California
	HIPAA Research Privacy Lead, Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente, Northern California

Primary Research Interests:

	Psychiatric and substance abuse treatment outcomes measurement
	Mental health services quality improvement
	Utilization and cost analysis
	Large scale automated database linkage for research applications

Current Projects:

Planning for research utilization of health data produced by the new Kaiser Permanente automated medical record system (KP Health Connect)

Completed Research Projects (partial listing):

	Comparison of Utilization Patterns and Costs for Medicaid and Non-Medicaid Chemical Dependency Patients in a Group Model HMO
	Follow-up Study of Medicaid Chemical Dependency Patients in a Private HMO: Do High Medical Costs Come Down Over Time?
	Psychometric Properties of the D-ARK, a New Brief Depression Scale
	The EDS Study: a Telephone-Based Cognitive-Behavioral Group Intervention for Depressed Seniors
	A Psychiatric Outcomes Study in Four Kaiser Permanente Outpatient Specialty Clinics
	Evaluation of Clinical Outcomes of Kaiser Permanente's Chemical Dependency Recovery Program (CDRP)

Selected Publications:

	Walter LJ, Schaefer C, Albright L, Parthasarthy S, Hunkeler EM, Westphal J, Williams M. Role of a psychiatric outcome study in a large-scale quality improvement project. Evaluation and Program Planning 1999;22:235-45.
	Dyckman JM, Rosenbaum RL, Hartmeyer RJ, Walter LJ. Effects of psychological intervention on panic attack patients in the emergency department. Psychosomatics 1999;40:422-7.
	Walter LJ, Parthasarthy S, Allen S, Ackerson L. Medicaid patients in a private Health Maintenance Organization: patterns of chemical dependency treatment. J Behav Health Serv Res. 2002;29:1-14.
	Walter LJ, Meresman JF, Kramer TL, Evans RB. The Depression-Arkansas scale: A validation study of a new brief depression scale in an HMO. J Clin Psychol 2003;59:465-81.
	Walter LJ, Ackerson L, Allen S. Medicaid chemical dependency patients in a commercial health plan: do high medical costs come down over time? J Behav Health Serv Res. 2005 July/September;32(3):253-263.