Every quarter we host a meeting of all the regional LMP co-leads, some senior unit-based team consultants, Kaiser Permanente leaders and their Union Coalition partners. The Sept. 28 and 29 meeting was held at the new hospital and medical offices in Irvine, California. The facilities are impressive. We had a group tour of the campus, and all of us felt a great deal of pride at being part of an organization that is committed to our members and patients at such beautiful new facilities. 

These quarterly sessions give regional co-leads an opportunity to learn from one another and to share some of the successes and difficulties each region faces as we move into the implementation of the new National Agreement. The new agreement calls out some very specific goals for the next two years. 

The path to high-performing teams 

One of these areas is moving teams along the Path to Performance scale. The Path to Performance has five levels, with levels four and five considered high-performing teams. Each region will set a baseline for how many high-performing teams it has by the end of 2010. The new agreement calls for doubling the number of high-performing unit-based teams by the end 2011. The number of high-performing teams is expected to be up by another 20% by the end of 2012, the last year of the two-year agreement. 

At Kaiser Permanente, unit-based teams are our operating model. Without them, the organization cannot succeed. The co-leads discussed how important it is for teams to become literate in the “business” of KP. That means understanding how the environment outside of KP impacts our work. This includes a working knowledge of the competitive market, health care reform, Medicare quality bonuses, how to provide for the uninsured and the underinsured, among many other factors. 

Learning how to budget 

One area we all saw as being to critical to this learning process is for teams to start by understanding their own budget. For many teams this will be a new experience. The LMP is developing new curriculum that will bring co-leads and team members up to speed. Higher-level teams should begin planning how they will incorporate the budget process into their work, if they are not already doing so. 

Next, we are off to San Diego to check out what teams are doing there. Tell us about your team and your accomplishments. Feel free to invite us for a visit!