Mid-Atlantic gets rolling with UBTs

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2008 :: By By Cassandra Braun

John August addressed the Mid-Atlantic UBT launch

Endearingly referring to its launch as the "caboose" of KP's unit-based team roll out, the Mid-Atlantic region got UBTs under way officially March 4 with a regional meeting where leaders shared their vision for the teams and a roll-out schedule. UBT leadership teams were already established at three medical centers in 2007.

What are UBTs?: Unit-based teams, which utilize natural work groups, are outlined in the 2005 National Agreement as the platform that Kaiser Permanente will use to transform itself into the future of health care, creating the industry's best place to work with the best quality, best service and most affordable care.

"How do we make this agreement come to life?" asked Ann Cahill, vice president of strategic services for Mid-Atlantic. "You have to involve the employees, physicians and managers. You have to have engagement on all levels."

Who was there? The launch brought together more than 200 physicians, managers and shop stewards from facilities in Virginia and Maryland.

Transforming KP: National and regional Kaiser Permanente leadership spoke compellingly about the urgent necessity for KP to transform the way it works, and the integral role that UBTs will play in that transformation.

John August addressed the Mid-Atlantic UBT launch

"Time's up," said John August, executive director of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions. "It's time to transform. The wolf is at the door."

With millions of Americans uninsured because they can't afford health care, and that number growing every day, KP must continually work to provide the highest quality, most efficient health care at reasonable costs in order to lead the competition. And equally important, August stressed: to render Kaiser Permanente as the obvious model for national health care.

Ken Hunter, Mid-Atlantic chief operating officer, underscored that idea.

"What's critical is not to focus on the process," he said. "But to focus on, 'Are we providing the best kind of health care that our own families deserve?'"

Need for change: The Mid-Atlantic group also got the first peek at a rough cut of the "Case for Change" film, an internal education tool to spark discussion around the pressing need for Kaiser Permanente to change—changes that will vary to fit the particular challenges faced in each region.

"I have been thinking about how my personal mission fits in with KP... Before I retire, I'd like to see that every American has decent health care, and I try (to make that happen) by doing the best I can every day at work," Dr. Ruth Robinson said after the film. "When I saw this film I thought, 'Hot damn!' I'm in the right organization."

What the UBT roll-out will look like: Mid-Atlantic managers, physicians and labor stewards were excited by the idea of using partnership and UBTs to improve KP. But for many, their optimism was guarded, and they questioned how UBTs would look and feel in the Mid-Atlantic region.

In response, Ann Cahill, vice president of strategic services for Mid-Atlantic, and Pati Nicholson, the region's Union Coalition National Coordinator, laid out their UBT roll -out plan.

The plan includes these features:

• UBT leadership teams will be launched at each medical facility, and will be comprised of a medical center administrator, a physician director and two labor leaders. Leadership teams have already begun working at the Kensington, Largo and Towson medical centers.
• Groups of teams will be launched every quarter of the year.
• 29 teams will be launched by the end of 2007.
• Teams will be trained in performance improvement, problem solving and communication techniques such as the Rapid Improvement Model (which includes the "plan, do, study, act" cycle) and consensus decision making.

"The race for quality has no finish line," Mary Ann Thode, senior vice president of the Labor Management Partnership, told the group. "How do you do your work differently? How you do this is in teams."