Georgia on our minds

Some of our friends in Georgia

We were off again in March to the Peachtree State: Georgia. KP Georgia employees are some of the friendliest you’ll meet. First stop was “Coffee and Conversation” with Regional President Peter Andruszkiewicz (also known as “Peter A.”) and Dr. Rob Schreiner, the executive medical director of the region. The two leaders hold regular meetings for all staff at each medical office, and more than 50 employees were on hand for this one.

Peter A. and Dr. Schreiner talked about efforts to bring care in-house, by making it less attractive for KP members in Georgia to opt for out of network providers. Georgia added 50 physicians last year and is bringing another 50 physicians on board this year, allowing more members to see Kaiser Permanente doctors.   

A huge part of this strategy involves teams providing outstanding service and care that will help retain and grow membership. It is always special to see the regional leaders meeting with front line workers to talk openly and candidly. 

Teams to watch

We had the privilege to meet with two sets of UBT co-leads that will be participating in the upcoming unit-based team relaunch this spring. One call center team has already done a tremendous amount of work on attendance. They have a rewards and recognition program in place that awards trophies to the person with the best attendance. The team proudly showed us their bulletin boards that posted the team’s goals. The team has been trying small tests of change, using the plan, do, study, act method. A PDSA cycle was just beginning during our visit and we look forward to seeing the results. 

We also met with co-leads from the Panola Medical Center. Dr. David Jones, physician in chief, will participate in upcoming training and will play an active role in leading the UBT. His involvement should be critical in helping the team accomplish its goals. Along with Valeria Simms, the assistant manager, the team’s co-leads include Sharee Hazel, RN and Eula Maddox, RN. The team will develop goals using the Value Compass and the use RIM+ methodology.  

We will be back in Georgia in June for the regional co-lead’s meeting, held the same week as the Kaiser Permanente Board of Directors quarterly meeting. Our GPS worked the entire trip so we were able to find our way home then off to National Bargaining at the beginning of April in Oakland. Stay tuned for more adventures.