Family Feud takeoff brings humor to sharing best practices in Ohio

John Kolodny, national coordinator in Ohio

On the road again—this time to Cleveland, Ohio, to meet with teams there.

Dan Ryan was on the injured reserve list after having surgery on his foot, so Bridget Hurley—the national LMP Coordinator for Performance Improvement and one of our team members—filled in. Bridget did a great job! The Ohio region was the first region to have 100% of their represented staff on or represented by a unit-based team. This was accomplished with the active senior level leader sponsorship of Belva Denmark Tibbs, VP of Operations; Walid Sidani, MD, VP and associate medical director for Medical Affairs, and John Kolodny, national coordinator for Ohio. It was also due to the dedication and work of the unit-based team resource team, with leadership from Seona Goerndt, the operations performance manager. This leadership team is now focused on helping teams become higher performing and follow the Path to Performance template, with clarity on specific goals for teams to work on.

This is important work. There are many important metrics and goals for teams in Ohio. At times, having a multitude of goals can overwhelm a frontline team. So the Ohio operations leaders want to make sure teams have clarity and focus and can prioritize as they do their work in 2011. And of course ensure that all of the goals align with overall regional goals. Great sponsorship, Ohio leaders!

Bringing team leads together

We were also invited to participate in the quarterly Clinical Operations Group, or COG, meeting. This is a great practice that the Ohio region started when they launched their first UBTs. The co-leads from every unit-based team are invited to attend, along with other leaders from the region. The event starts with dinner and is followed by a two-hour program. This COG meeting featured some basic performance improvement education, a national update about UBTs and focus for 2011, a deeper dive into teams and the Path to Performance.

One highlight for me was the four unit-based teams that presented their stories and successes in a panel format. Each team spent 15 minutes talking about their journey—challenges, how they developed better communication, small tests of change they tried. The Orthopedics team had a blast (not to mention the rest of us there) when they presented their project as their own take on Family Feud. I also noticed each team had their physician partners there to help present, and there were numerous physicians at the meeting. Physician involvement in UBTs has shown to really help with performance improvement work and help things move more quickly. It was great to see them so involved.

Learning from peers

Overall the meeting was a great experience. The learning that takes place when co-leads hear from their peers about how they were successful or what struggles they faced is truly special. We, as an organization, have always struggled with sharing best practices. And this is not unique to Kaiser Permanente. This event is one very successful way to help that knowledge exchange take place. Thanks to the Ohio region for sharing this great practice!

We also want to thank Paula Hadley, Dr. Dipti Shaw and Deann Moore, co-leads from the Chapel Hill Internal Medicine department, and Sandra Hodnick, Dr. Karla Madalin and Cynthia Quinn from the Parma Neurology department for giving us the opportunity to sit in on their UBT meetings. It is very important to hear where teams are at in their development and to keep in mind the numerous accountabilities every team has.

We know that Ohio will continue to depend on their teams to figure out efficiencies and best practices. One thing Bridget and I discovered that we couldn’t depend on was our GPS device. Once again, we did get lost, but just once! (So we’re doing better.) Dan wasn’t there so we cannot blame him. I maintain it was a GPS malfunction! At least that’s what I will admit to.

Feel free to invite Dan and me to your medical center or region. We would love to visit and hear how your teams are doing.