Colorado

The Colorado region is improving patient care and saving millions by providing high-risk patients extra attention after discharge, leading to a reduction in readmission rates. In the Post Acute Care Transitions (PACT) program, nurse practitioners visit patients in their homes after discharge from a hospital or skilled nursing facility, giving them a chance to alter the patient’s care plan if needed. The PACT team has visited approximately 4,200 high-risk patients since the program began in January 2013. At that time, 22 percent of high-risk patients were readmitted within 30 days, at a cost of $11.7 million. The PACT team has reduced readmission rates by 50 percent, saving Kaiser Permanente approximately $6 million since the program began.

Georgia

To make sure no good deed goes uncopied, the Georgia region launched a Spread and Sustain system to move best practices throughout the region—and showed off the results to KP’s board of directors at a UBT fair early last summer. Georgia took a spread blueprint from the Southern California region and fine-tuned it to meet its needs. Now its unit-based teams, sponsors and regional leaders identify projects with good spread potential, determine other locations where the new process could work, share the practice and check back to see how they’re being sustained. Several projects have been successfully spread region-wide—addressing such issues as hypertension, HPV vaccinations and lab specimen collection.

Hawaii

Hawaii is a beautiful place to live, but Kaiser Permanente members who live on the less-populated islands sometimes find it challenging to get the care they need. To address that, KP offers a special benefit called Travel Concierge Service. If health plan members need medical care that isn’t available on their island, KP assists them in traveling to the Moanalua Medical Center in Oahu or to a specialty care medical office. KP makes the travel arrangements and picks up the tab for travel, including airfare, shuttle service and discounted hotel rates. For minors who need specialty care, KP also pays for companion travel. “Our members love this service,” says Lori Nanone, a sales and account manager in the region.

Mid-Atlantic States

For several years, co-leads in the Mid-Atlantic States have compiled monthly reports of their UBT activities, goals and progress using Microsoft Word and Excel. Now, the region is rolling out a dashboard that automatically compiles the same information from UBT Tracker into an easy-to-reference SharePoint site, Kaiser Permanente’s new online social collaboration tool. The new dashboard will encourage more frequent updates to UBT Tracker and eliminate the need for co-leads to create separate documents, says Jennifer Walker, lead UBT consultant and improvement advisor. “Now the information we get is more timely and easier to assess,” Walker says. “Before, the information was up to a month old.”

Northern California

The Santa Rosa Medical Center Diversity Design committee is equipping employees with tools to help them provide better service to Spanish-speaking patients. The group, composed of labor and management, has been piloting a handout featuring a list of common Spanish phrases, such as ¿Necesita un intérprete? (“Do you need an interpreter?”), as well as instructions on using the phone interpreter system. The idea came from a Spanish-speaking patient on the facility’s Latino patient advisory committee, who recalled the time she was lost in the facility and no one could direct her in Spanish. The Spanish language flier is the latest in the committee’s work to help ensure all patients receive the same optimal service and care.

Northwest

Unit-based teams in the Continuing Care Services department are focusing on improving the experience for some of Kaiser Permanente’s most vulnerable members: those in skilled nursing facilities or receiving home health, hospice or palliative care. Teams are focusing on ensuring better transitions for patients as they go from inpatient to ambulatory care. By identifying issues before they become problems, labor and management hope to coordinate care more effectively, reduce emergency department visits and cut down on outside medical costs.

Southern California

Harmony comes easily when you use the tools of partnership. Just ask the Biohazards, a band of union members and a manager that uses partnership principles to guide performances. “We call ourselves an LMP project,” says Mary Anne Umekubo, a clinical laboratory scientist and Regional Laboratory assistant director who sings and plays percussion and guitar. She is among six band members who represent a variety of departments, shifts and unions, including SEIU-UHW and UFCW Local 770. Performing for friends and colleagues, band members use consensus decision making to choose songs, interest-based problem solving to fix mistakes and the Rapid Improvement Model to tweak performances. “We’re from different departments,” says drummer Eric Cuarez, a regional courier driver and SEIU-UHW member. “We come together to play music.”

Colorado

Unit-based teams are hitting their stride, with 190 out of 261 teams reaching a Level 4 or 5 on the five-point Path to Performance. Teams are engaged in several types of projects, including those that save the organization money. The region will see a financial savings of $1.85 million this year through the 175 affordability projects of UBTs. The five UBT consultants in the region are coaching teams impacted by regional restructuring and helping those teams rebound quickly. Teams also are focusing on workplace safety, patient safety and HEDIS measures (Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set).

Georgia

Starting in May and running through December 2015, Georgia medical centers are conducting an experiment. This region-wide test involves using greeters to usher in members. During the trial period, 15 greeters will make the member feel welcomed and convey the message they are important to Kaiser Permanente. Greeters also will answer questions, escort members to their appointments, maintain waiting rooms, ensure wheelchairs are available and welcome members with a smile. “They will provide a concierge-type member experience,” says Elizabeth Ramsey, the Georgia region’s senior manager of loyalty and retention.

Hawaii

The Hawaii region recently re-set its 57 unit-based teams’ scores on the Path to Performance to Level 1. Three consultants—two also are registered nurses and one is a project manager—will help teams quickly advance as they meet such core requirements as sponsor training. The region is unique in that, for now, one union (Hawaii Nurses Association/OPEIU Local 50) is in the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, while other unions are not. Although that can be challenging, consultants say teams still focus on the patient and want to do improvement work. “We help each other work through obstacles with our teams and understand the data,” says Lisa Kane, UBT consultant and project manager.

Mid-Atlantic States

In February, when home health orders came in to Health Information Management Services Northern Virginia, the average turnaround time was 4.4 days. By creating red folders for the orders, adding a cover sheet that says “stat” and date stamping the order as soon as it arrives, the team cut turnaround time to three days by April 2015—even as the number of orders went up from 673 in February to 747 in April. “This was important to the workflow, because when home health agencies called to follow up on the orders it interrupted our work,” says LaShawnda Powell, a senior health information management assistant in Woodbridge, Virginia, and member of OPEIU Local 2. “We have determined that our new process is successful and we’ve adopted it.” 

Northern California

Last year, unit-based team consultants and union partnership representatives formed a regional UBT to work on issues related to consistency and accountability for Northern California’s 1,300 frontline teams. Now the group has established three subgroups to review the 2015 National Agreement, which includes new provisions for UBTs. Each subgroup has a distinct focus area: sponsorship, UBT validation and assessment, and tools to support contract expectations. The subgroups will develop recommendations for review by a committee of labor members and management representatives. The regional co-leads will submit final recommendations to the regional LMP Leadership Council by year’s end.

Northwest

UBT Resource Team members have been busy refining the region’s new process for assessing teams on the Path to Performance. Co-leads and sponsors of 415 unit-based teams in the Northwest work with their consultant to ensure each team advances or sustains high performance throughout the year. Improvement Advisors help co-leads create action plans and provide direct training to move teams along or refer them to the appropriate subject matter experts. A majority of teams at Levels 2 and 3 will advance to high performance within the next 90 days due in large part to the work of the UBT Resource Team.

Southern California

Playing games at work usually is considered taboo. But that’s exactly how a group of regional UBT staff members spent a recent afternoon when they learned to play the “Leading Innovation Game.” Created by Kaiser Permanente’s Innovation and Advanced Technology team, the board game is designed to help employees overcome challenges that can doom the best ideas. Starting this fall, regional UBT staff will train team co-leads and sponsors, who will share the game with unit-based teams at their facilities. “Most teams come up with great ideas but they aren’t always aware of potential pitfalls,” says Rosalyn Evans, UBT practice leader for Southern California. “This board game gives them hands-on experience to develop innovation in a risk-free environment.”

When I was asked to represent The Permanente Medical Group at 2012 bargaining, I leapt at the opportunity. My own experience with partnership at Fresno Medical Center showed me what great things could be accomplished with collective problem solving.

I sat on the subgroup that looked at how to improve partnership to enhance performance and Kaiser Permanente’s operational agility. I was amazed at seeing so many people with different backgrounds sharing their thoughts and shaping the outcomes. From the highest levels of Kaiser Permanente and union leadership to the front line, everybody was around the table, and they were all equal in this venue. Everyone was heard and engaged.

I personally learned a lot from the different perspectives voiced by all of the individuals representing their fields. I strongly believe that collective wisdom is better than individual wisdom, and that with collective wisdom you can achieve anything in life. Interest-based bargaining, which assembles voices from all levels and reaches of Kaiser Permanente, is a great example of collective wisdom.

Another thing that struck me—how much folks craved the physician perspective. When I spoke, all 25 to 30 people in that subgroup really listened. And there were issues where a physician perspective was critical. That was a strong message I brought back to physicians. In most unit-based teams at Fresno, there is physician involvement. The intention is to bring those perspectives together to enhance the care for our members and patients. But does that mean if I walk into a UBT meeting I’ll see a doctor? Maybe yes, maybe no.

I’ve worked at Kaiser Permanente for 34 years, and I saw the pre-partnership years. They were contentious ones. We’ve had relative peace with coalition unions since partnership. That’s not to say that working in partnership is perfect in every way. It can’t be done without trusting each other. And how do you develop trust? Through transparency. The whole bargaining process was about transparency; essentially, everybody could share everything. That doesn’t mean people didn’t disagree.

The interest-based, collective approach takes into account everyone’s perspectives to reach a better outcome, which is ultimately a common goal—superior care for our members and patients.