Service

• Identifying departments that send patients and specimens without orders
• Using a playful law enforcement theme to educate the “violators”
• Monitoring data and recognizing departments that are improving

What can your team do to approach a serious issue in a more playful way? What else could your team do to help "violators" change without blame?

• Making a joint commitment that when there is a KP HealthConnect® notification that a patient is due for a health screening, team members follow up by offering to schedule the patient for the screening or asking the necessary questions to fill in missing information in the patient’s medical record
• Creating a script to help staff members talk to patients about updating their health needs and posting laminated cards on computers to serve as reminders
• Reporting the weekly screening numbers to staff members so they can track their progress and recognize where they missed opp

• Huddling before the clinics open for the day to determine who will buddy up in groups of two.
• Spending the day communicating with each other how the clinics’ schedules are progressing and finding out from medical assistants and nurses whether any providers are running behind.
• Delivering information to patients on waiting room delays that is as specific as possible.

What can your team do to communicate better with each other and patients? What else could your team do to make the day go smoothly?

• Tracking slide turnaround times on a white board
• Discussing turnaround times and quality assurance issues in team huddles
• Meeting weekly with the UBT’s sponsors to help with engagement and remove barriers
• Including pathologists to facilitate better communication between staff and physicians

What can your team do to remove barriers in your daily work? What else could your team do to use huddles to improve quality? 

• Setting up a fast track area with four patient rooms at the front of the department
• Agreeing to use standardized criteria for triage
• Keeping patients in treatment rooms only while being treated; waiting occurs in the fast track waiting area

What can your team do to identify areas that need improvement? What else could your team do to shorten the time patients have to wait for service?

• Creating a wait list for patients who need to schedule surgeries
• Assigning a full-time employee to manage the wait list
• Using openings in the schedule to squeeze in emergency patients

What can your team do to improve patient satisfaction and efficiencies in your department? What else could your team do to relieve scheduling backlogs?

• Monitoring incoming same-day prescriptions and moving them ahead of the line to be processed immediately
• Using clear bags for same-day prescriptions, instead of standard white bags, so those orders stand out for pharmacy technicians
• Encouraging patients to refill their prescriptions through mail-order to reduce the load on in-house pharmacists

What can your team do to be innovative problem solvers? What else could your team do to increase patient satisfaction?

• Creating a questionnaire and training staff on the new process
• Partnering with the business office supervisor and asking the receptionists to hand the form to all GI procedure patients at check-in
• Decreasing/minimizing the RN time to review the entire document in detail and focus on patients' specific questions
• Giving patients a choice between RN discharge or MD discharge

What can your team do to improve efficiencies in your department? What else could your team do to help shorten patients' wait times?

• Creating a script to educate parents about the type and severity of pain their newborns might experience
• Articulating clearly what steps health care providers would take to manage babies’ pain
• Educating parents about pain management at admission to NICU instead of waiting until the issue arose

What can your team do to be proactive in keeping patients and their families informed during stressful times?

• Implementing a quiet zone to allow staff to better concentrate
• Shifting work schedules so more staff are available during peak hours
• Communicating one on one with pharmacy staff about changes being made and why, and what data show

What can your team do to effectively respond to workflow and target changes? What else could your team do to meet targeted goals?