The best approach is a team approach

What UBTs offer docs

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2011 :: By Christopher Covin, MD

Chris Covin, MD, chief of Pediatrics, Martinez Medical Center

Physicians as change agents

More on physicians and UBTs

• Physicians on Unit-Based Teams [Tool]
• Consensus Decision Making Web Training for MDs [Informational Page]

I am a big proponent of the team approach to medicine. That’s why I am an active participant of my department’s unit-based team.

As the physician co-lead for the Pediatrics unit-based team, I participate in the UBT meetings both to give and to receive ideas. Ideally, a physician brings to a UBT the vision on how to work together to provide the best possible patient care, support for the management co-lead, and the willingness and openness to listen to what other people have to say. 

According to Dr. Atul Gawande, noted author and surgeon, it used to be that doctors were trained to be cowboys. They worked alone and saved the day. In today’s world, what people really need are pit crews, teams of people where everyone’s function is vital to the overall success of the enterprise. Medicine is no longer an individual endeavor—it has grown so complex and multifaceted that no physician can know everything. So we need to foster the team approach to give our patients the best possible care. 

When I first came to Kaiser nearly 10 years ago, the thing I heard that really stuck with me was the KP Service Quality credo: “Our cause is health. Our passion is service. We’re here to make lives better.” I immediately connected with it and have used it to filter everything I do. 

In other words, I always ask myself: Does what we are doing support our cause, passion and goal? If it does, then it’s usually worth doing. 

Advice to other physicians  

• Say "thank you" and say "please." Really go out of your way to appreciate someone who comes up with an idea that has made your life easier. And do it publicly.
• Make time for daily huddles with your staff.
• Create an environment in which people feel free to share their ideas. One of the worst forms of waste is unused creativity.
• Give people the benefit of the doubt; pause and reflect when you feel yourself getting upset.
• Think outside the box. Go to staff members who aren’t at the nursing station to help out when needed. This gives the whole team a sense of ownership over patient care. 

Bottom line? Being a leader isn’t just about being in charge. Just because you’re a physician doesn’t mean you have to spearhead all of the work. If you really want to make a difference or a change, you have to include the entire staff. The work will get done better, faster and easier if we work together. And if you believe in the work that you are doing, then teamwork is a natural expression of patient care.

Dr. Covin is also the LMP physician lead at the Martinez Medical Center and  the physician co-lead for the Pediatrics unit-based team.