Catching Up with Barb

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.

With almost 3,500 unit-based teams across Kaiser Permanante, more physicians than ever are seeing the benefits of team-based care. Colorado physician Mark Ptaskiewicz, an early convert to the team approach, recently shared with LMP senior VP Barb Grimm just what made him a believer.

As a large organization, one of Kaiser Permanente's greatest challenges is sharing learning and spreading success. Unit-based teams in Southern California are finding ways to do just that. Senior VP Barb Grimm caught up with Scal UBT Consultant Stacy Dietz at the recent Resource Exchange in Colorado. They talked about how passionate sponsors are key to successful teams.

Recently Barb visited Ohio where she spoke with Fred Lefton, Assistant Director of Pharmacy. He had a few tips for other UBT sponsors about collaborative decision making.

Best Quality is one of the four strategic points of the KP Value Compass—and members of every Kaiser Permanente team should make time for the 2011 National Quality Conference. The free conference broadcasts live July 13-14 to desktops across KP and will be available on demand through 2011. It features more than 50 speakers and breakout sessions, with health care leaders from around the world and KP. CME credit is available for all sessions. Barb Grimm and Senior Vice President, Quality and Service, Alide Chase talk about this extraordinary opportunity to spread best practices, improve the quality of our care and make KP the best to get care and to work.

Let’s face it, most of us could do more to improve our health. For those of us who lack the time, will or ability to run marathons or spend hours at the gym, here’s a bit of good news: Walking just 30 minutes a day significantly reduces our chances of getting sick. That’s why Kaiser Permanente has launched two walking campaigns—one for employees and one for KP members and the community. LMP VP Barb Grimm caught up recently with George Halvorson, chairman and CEO of Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, to find out more about why KP is touting walking.

Wouldn't it be nice when you entered a medical office building if there was a concierge to give directions, schedule appointments and answer other questions? That's a service some Kaiser Permanente members in San Diego are receiving. The Clairemont Mesa Primary Care UBT came up with the idea of placing a concierge outside of its office as a way to improve its service--as well as its "helpful and courteous" scores. Senior LMP VP Barb Grimm caught up with labor co-lead Jennifer Burgess at San Diego's UBT Fair to find out more.

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.

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.