labor management partnership

Labor and management in every region are working together to make Kaiser Permanente the recognized model for delivery of high quality, affordable health care. And our Labor Management Partnership is a unique part of that model. At the 2011 Union Delegates Conference, LMP Senior VP Barb Grimm caught up with Dennis Deas, senior director of National Performance Improvement, to find out what every team should know to make KP the best—and the best at getting better.

Good service is easy for a hospital patient to recognize. But when you're the care deliverer, it can be hard to know whether patients' needs are being met. Barb Grimm, LMP's senior VP, recently caught up with Hannah King, the director of UBT Service Quality, to find out what teams throughout KP are doing to make sure our members are receiving the best service—and that we are putting them at the center of everything we do.

I recently had the privilege of participating in a webinar sponsored by the Institute of Labor Relations (ILR) at Cornell University on How Innovative Auto Industry Practices Could Help Transform Health Care. I urge all of you to view the webcast on line.

I want to focus on an important observation shared by Mike Bennett, a retired UAW leader, Professor Thomas Kochan of MIT, and Harry Katz, Dean of ILR.

It’s flu season. The good news is that it's not too late to get the flu vaccine which increases your chance of staying healthy. It also reduces the likelihood that you'll pass along a flu virus to KP members or your family. This conversation between Jed Weissberg, MD, SVP of quality and care delivery excellence, and the LMP's Barb Grimm will convince you that getting the flu shot is the right thing to do!

Is Kaiser Permanente creating a culture in which frontline employees feel safe trying something new, even if they might fail? Do KP executives model that behavior? LMP Senior Vice President Barb Grimm, Donna Lynne, president of the Colorado region and Southern California President Ben Chu agree that taking measured risks—and failing—are essential to transformation and improvement. The three KP leaders recently shared perspectives.

It’s open enrollment season, which means members with employer-sponsored health insurance have the opportunity to renew their membership with Kaiser Permanente—or choose another health care provider. So Senior VP Barb Grimm decided it was the perfect time to catch up with Wade Overgaard, the senior VP of sales and account management for California, to get his advice on how we can all help retain members and help KP grow.

Unit-based teams play a critical role in making Kaiser Permanente the safest place to work and to receive care. Every day, UBTs search for news ways to reduce injuries. And teams create an environment in which employees feel comfortable speaking up if they see something unsafe. Senior VP Barb Grimm spoke recently with Doug Bonacum, senior VP of patient safety, about the art of keeping KP safe.