Unit-based teams: KPs platform for performance improvement

THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 2012

Rob Schreiner, MD, and Kerry W. Kohnen

Reprinted from “The Path Forward” by Rob Schreiner, MD, executive medical director, The Southeast Permanente Medical Group, and Kerry W. Kohnen, president Kaiser Permanente of Georgia.

September 2011

At Kaiser Permanente, we look to unit-based teams (UBTs) as the model for employees and physicians in work units and departments to improve performance. Unit-based teams engage team members and integrate their experience, skills and creativity to find efficiencies and better ways of caring for and serving our members.

In short, UBTs give everyone a voice in how best to improve day-to-day work. They are allowing us to move decision-making closer to where the work is being done.

Currently, we have 82 UBTs in the Georgia Region and we are seeing successes:

• At Cumberland, the Pediatrics UBT has increased the percentage of adolescent well-checks from 41 percent to almost 50 percent.

• At TownPark, the Pharmacy UBT has decreased the prescription processing time average from almost 14 minutes to less than 10.5 minutes.

• At Regional Office, the Quality Assurance UBT has significantly increased financial accuracy and identified discrepancies that netted us an additional $30,000 on 400 claims.

These are just a few of examples of how our UBTs are having positive effects as the platform for performance improvement at Kaiser Permanente.

We determine how a team is progressing by rating it on a 5-level scale. This year, our focus is on having 50 percent or more of Georgia's UBTs reach Level 3 or higher, which means they are demonstrating progress and making improvements. We began 2011 with only 3 percent of our teams at Level 3; by July that number grew to 22 percent. Our ultimate goal is to have as many UBTs as possible at Level 5, the highest stage of development and business results.

Thank you to Alison Firth and David Jones, MD, who co-lead the UBT effort, as well as the sponsors, consultants, co-leads and team members who are working hard toward achieving our targets.

We are committed to UBTs as a fundamental way in which we will improve performance by providing high quality care, delivering exceptional service and keeping care affordable for our members. We ask for your continued support of this essential work toward achieving our business results.