unit-based teams

For Kaiser Permanente and the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, 2011 ended on a high note: We substantially surpassed our goal for achieving high-performing unit-based teams. The National Agreement charged all of us with the achievement of 658 high-performing teams (level 4-5) based on the Path to Performance standards established in the Agreement. As of late December we had some 1,000 high-performing teams in place!

The MidAtlantic region's new Capitol facility has been open less than a year, but unit-based teams are already finding new ways to improve service and care. LMP Senior VP Barb Grimm caught up recently with Audrey King, LMP coordinator for the region, to find out just what what teams are up to.

Over the past couple of months, I have visited with frontline teams in Colorado, Virginia, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Honolulu, Los Angeles and Oakland. Without exception, I observed a broad cross-section of our unionized workers and their partners struggling for positive outcomes.

“Struggle” describes what is involved in unit-by-unit improvement work. Struggle can be positive. It’s necessary for people to transform, and not just make a few cosmetic or ephemeral changes.

We’re almost half way through 2011, and all the regions are helping their unit-based teams advance along the Path to Performance. This has not been the easiest of transitions—the process requires team co-leads and sponsors to agree on their team performance assessments, and on the interpretation of specific language in the Path to Performance document.

The health care reform law is changing the way care is delivered in the United States--for the better. And as those changes take hold, unit-based teams are a big plus for Kaiser Permanente, says George Halvorson, chairman and CEO of Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Kaiser Foundation Health Plan. Watch highlights of George's recent conversation with senior LMP VP Barb Grimm. (Interested in learning even more? View Halvorson's slide deck from the 2011 Union Delegates Conference.)

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.

Sometimes when I am having discussions with people, they raise important questions about why we are so focused on performance improvement at Kaiser Permanente, in the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions and in the Labor Management Partnership. Sometimes it goes like this:

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.

It is expected that Unit Based Teams are the operating model for Kaiser Permanente. (Page 6, 2010 National Agreement)

Integration of labor into the normal business structures of the organization (means) .... full participation in the decision-making forums and processes at every level of the organization (Page 6, 2010 National Agreement)

There is general agreement about these important concepts around the program. It is also true that understanding, implementation and overall support for these concepts continue to vary.

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.