Cancer care is among the most complex challenges in modern medicine—and Dr. Dinesh Kotak, oncologist at KP North Valley, has spent his career making it simpler, smarter, and more precise for every clinician and patient across Kaiser Permanente.
As the TPMG Hematology/Oncology Information Technology lead, Dr. Kotak partnered with regional IT leaders, chiefs of oncology, and frontline oncologists to build evidence-based clinical decision support tools—embedded directly into KP HealthConnect, right at the provider’s fingertips. As a result, cancer care pathways covering virtually every cancer type and stage are now available across all eight KP regions, used by nearly all KP oncologists, with more than 80 percent of chemotherapy and immunotherapy orders completed through the platform.
To support physicians managing abnormal blood results, Dr. Kotak led development of the TPMG Benign Hematology Platform, a self-service digital tool that delivers real-time guidance and enables one-click ordering. Physicians now place more than 1,500 hematology orders through the platform every month.
Recognizing the growing population of cancer survivors, Dr. Kotak and his colleagues built the nation’s first digital cancer survivorship tool, which automatically identifies survivors, notifies them when follow-up is needed, and equips clinicians with the tools to facilitate outreach and ordering.
Other cancer treatment digital innovations developed by Dr. Kotak and his colleagues include the Expert Review Program, which connects treatment teams with national experts within KP; an AI model to help reduce no-shows at infusion centers; a self-help symptom management platform for chemotherapy and immunotherapy patients; and several regional and national projects that bring teams together with a common goal—to provide patients and members with nation-leading cancer care.
“With his groundbreaking, innovative work, he has transformed how we deliver cancer and hematology care at TPMG and nationally,” says Dr. Tatjana Kolevska, TPMG associate executive director.