TTP

• Checking with patients daily to ensure the room is clean and tidy
• Using AIDET — a quick, effective way to communicate — when talking with patients
• Giving patients and family members contact cards for the EVS team
• Practicing conversations to help shy workers feel more comfortable speaking with patients and families
• Seeking ideas from workers on all shifts
• Showing patient satisfaction scores on monitors in employee breakrooms

What can

• Examining current workflow for ways to improve
• Making sure HoverMatts – and other patient-handling equipment - are available

What can your team do to adjust workflows and reduce costs?

• Stationing support staff at facility entrances to greet members, provide directions and help with other needs  
• Training staff members to seek patient feedback and encourage Google star reviews as a tool to improve service 
• Reaching out to members who leave negative reviews to ensure their concerns are addressed

What can your team do to solicit member feedback and make Kaiser Permanente the best place to receive care? 

• Expanding training of technicians to ensure everyone follows procedure
• Looking closely to detect problems in preparing eyeglass lenses
• Increasing maintenance of machine parts

What can your team do to detect a problem and find a solution? 

• Asking members about their race, ethnicity, and preferred language helps caregivers identify and address health risks and provide culturally competent care
• Using a prompt card at the start to remind team members to ask patients for their demographic information
• Holding friendly competitions to keep team members engaged

What can your team do to standardize collection of demographic information and make it part of the workflow?

• Adding questions about sexual orientation, gender identity, and preferred pronouns to the intake form for new patients
• Asking patients about their backgrounds to better understand their unique health risks and challenges  
• Spreading the practice to Northwest teams specializing in mental health and addiction medicine

What can your team do:  Demographic data can include sexual orientation, gender identity, race and ethnicity, ability status, military veteran status, and language proficiency.

• Educating staff about the operational challenges caused by last-minute sick calls and encouraging them to schedule time off in advance to minimize staffing disruptions
• Hiring employees to fill staffing gaps, enabling team members to schedule time off
• Recognizing employees for outstanding attendance

What can your team do: Identify the root causes of job-related stress and burnout and work together to minimize them. Encourage employees to plan vacation and mental health days in advance and use sick days for illness.

• Having more team members work up to scope and administer evaluations  
• Scheduling appointments with members to complete the evaluations instead of making random, unscheduled calls 

What can your team do to ensure that team members work at the top of their scope to streamline care, expand options to meet patient needs, and relieve credentialed staff members of administrative tasks so they can deliver patient care?

• Earning support from top physician leaders by showcasing solid UBT wins
• Creating a suite of materials and training to help physicians understand unit-based teams and their unique roles and contributions to them
• Including information about UBTs and their role in creating an efficient practice in orientation for new doctors

• Using secure chat instead of phone calls or a voice-controlled, wearable communication device to notify nurses about non-urgent lab results
• Welcoming Emergency Department staff to the lab to meet colleagues, see processes and explain testing systems to help foster relationships and a better understanding of the work