Woodland Hills Infusion Center: A quality team

Team members Ursula Doidic & Elizabeth Kouba and advisor Devi Roseboro-Casas

We hope you got a chance to attend portions of the Quality Conference. We were in bargaining but have spent some time listening to several of the sessions that are available on-line  through September. It is worth listening to them. One presentation stands out: the Woodland Hills Infusion Center UBT. What an impressive team with some outstanding results!

Work through old baggage

The three presenters, Ursula Doidic, Elizabeth Kouba and the Project Manager/ Improvement Advisor Devi Roseboro-Casas, shared some key aspects of their success. They spoke of the trust that was built between union employees, managers and their physician partners. This did not happen on its own. It took time to work through some old issues and create a culture of respect. Because the team worked through its demons, they are now able to take advantage of the experience and talent that each team member brings to the table. They accepted that things would have to change and they would need to adapt to that change even though it might not be comfortable initially. 

Shared decision making

The team works very closely with their physician partner, Dr. Gary Hufford, whose sponsorship has been critical to their success. Decisions are not made in isolation by managers and doctors who tell staff what to do. Over time, team leaders have been able to involve everyone in decisions that impact how their work gets done. Options are discussed in an open forum where ideas are generated. The team then tries different ways of doing things.

Tangible results

Their accomplishments include figuring innovative ways of providing backfill. Team members also take responsibility for scheduling and budget preparation. They’ve decreased use of overtime, increased in number of breaks taken, achieved their attendance goal for two years in a row and not had a single workplace injury for in two years.

Perhaps most importantly, they have increased the efficiency in the entire workflow around Peripherally Inserted Central Catheters (PICC). This quality improvement has reduced the number of PICC line infections and has greatly sped up the process from PICC line insertion to PICC line use.

Hats off to the Woodland Hills Infusion Center team for their accomplishments!

You can view the video of their workshop by registering online and signing up for Breakout session F1.

In the next couple of months we will be off to Georgia, the Northwest and Ohio. We'll also spend time in both Northern and Southern California. We'll keep you updated on our adventures.