Today, I want to urge frontline union members, managers, executives and physicians to take a few minutes and browse through the new and improved LMPartnership.org.

In fact, I ask that you contact me and let me know what you think, how you use it and what might make it more useful for you.

LMPartnership.org was designed to be of use to the people carrying out the work of improving performance. It provides tools, methodologies and best practices, including a new and improved guide to using UBT Tracker (which provides a way for teams to share directly with other UBTs information about what they are working on and the approaches they are taking).

Whole systems improvement

Last week, I wrote about the concept of “whole systems improvement”—and LMPartnership.org is a tool for that kind of comprehensive improvement, helping to create unity of purpose and unity of approach. The website makes it possible to communicate consistently and to provide everyone with access to a set of effective methodologies.

Why does this matter? As we bring the two fundamental documents in our organization—the Kaiser Permanente Strategic Plan and the 2010 National Agreement—to life, we are doing as much as we can to involve everyone in the organization in a cohesive, collaborative system-wide effort for improvement.

While whole systems improvement takes place improvement by improvement in thousands of workplaces, we are committed to tracking success system-wide in improvement in all phases of the Value Compass:  quality, service, affordability, and making Kaiser Permanente the best place to work in the industry. We want everyone in the organization on board with consistent messages and methodologies to achieve whole system improvement.

In fact, we expect everyone in the organization to take these concepts and methodologies and apply them to the strategic work wherever they are.

Transforming KP

We are committed to transforming the organization as a whole.  And the National Agreement and the Strategic Plan commit everyone to the concept of partnership.That means that localized efforts that do not embrace this concept are out of step with the direction of the organization.

In a huge organization like Kaiser Permanente (even in small ones), transformation can easily be defined by those who have the power and authority to define it. Organizational goals can also be defined locally and achieved locally. Best practices and experience from local improvement should be shared.  We encourage this transformation from the bottom up, as well as from the top down.

Plan, Do, Study, Act, known as the PDSA cycle, is a phenomenal and simple approach to create unit-by-unit learning systems.  It is the essence of partnership in day-to-day work and great relationships at work. PDSA cycles that place the patient/member at the center of all decisions solve real problems that have vexed the organization, in some cases for decades. This unlocking of new ideas based on the application of knowledge at the front line shows incredible results. 

The reason that the organization is committed to partnership is not to “get along.” Rather this commitment is based on the principle that shared interests can overcome most any obstacle.

However, we have wide variation throughout KP as to how unit-based teams are organized. The LMP website provides the focus and consistency that the organization is asking everyone to follow.

Visit LMPartnership.org and let me know what you think.