Have some fun—and reinforce the importance of reducing waste and saving KP money—by using this "Hank lib" at your team meeting. From the Winter 2013 issue of Hank.

Jennifer Gladwell

Tyra Ferlatte

Tool landing page copy (reporters)

Hank Libs: Show Me the Money

Format:
PDF

Size:
8.5" x 11"

Intended audience:
Frontline workers and managers

Best used:
This Hank Lib from Winter 2013 can provide variety and fun at a team meeting while highlighting waste reduction and savings.

Released

Tracking (editors)

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 12:00

Obsolete (webmaster)

not migrated

Read more about Hank Libs: Show Me the Money

PPT: Assigning Ownership of Surgical Instruments Saves Thousands

Submitted by Kellie Applen on Mon, 01/07/2013 - 19:05

Region

Tool Type

Format

Keywords

Franklin Medical Office

save thousands

Head and Neck Surgery

Topics

Affordability

Role

Frontline Workers

UBT Consultants & UPRs

Content Section

Postcards to Posters

Taxonomy upgrade extras

lmpartnership.org

bulletin board packet

ppt_surgical_instruments_affordability_colo.

This PowerPoint slide, from the January/February 2013 Bulletin Board Packet, features a Colorado UBT that found a way to better track its instruments and save thousands of dollars.

Non-LMP

Tool landing page copy (reporters)

PPT: Assigning Ownership of Surgical Instruments Saves Thousands

Format:
PPT

Size:
1 Slide

Intended audience:
LMP employees, UBT consultants, improvement advisers

Best used:
This PowerPoint slide features a Colorado UBT that found a way to better track its surgical instruments and save thousands of dollars. Use in presentations to show some of the methods used and the measurable results being achieved by unit-based teams across Kaiser Permanente.

Released

Tracking (editors)

Tue, 01/01/2013 - 12:00

Obsolete (webmaster)

not migrated

Read more about PPT: Assigning Ownership of Surgical Instruments Saves Thousands

Poster: UBT Ends Losing Streak

Submitted by Kellie Applen on Mon, 01/07/2013 - 18:59

Region

Tool Type

Format

Topics

Content Section

Taxonomy upgrade extras

lmpartnership.org

bulletin board packet

bb_surgical_instruments_Colo.

This poster, which appears in the January/February 2013 Bulletin Board Packet, highlights a Colorado team that found a way to better keep track of its surgical instruments and save thousands of dollars.

Non-LMP

Tool landing page copy (reporters)

Poster: Assigning Ownership of Surgical Instruments Saves Thousands

Format:
PDF (color and black and white)

Size:
8.5” x 11”

Intended audience:
Frontline employees, managers and physicians

Best used:
Hang this poster highlighting a Colorado team's better way to keep track of surgical instruments—and save thousands of dollars—on bulletin boards, in break rooms and other staff areas.

Released

Tracking (editors)

Tue, 01/01/2013 - 12:00

Classification (webmaster)

Quality

Unit-based Teams

Obsolete (webmaster)

poster

PDF

Northern California

bulletin board packet

not migrated

Read more about Poster: UBT Ends Losing Streak

Unit-Based Teams' Growing Focus on Cost of Care

Submitted by Paul Cohen on Thu, 11/08/2012 - 14:38

Tool Type

Format

Topics

Role

Taxonomy upgrade extras

lmpartnership.org

ppt_UBTs solve for affordabilty.pc.ppt

Three PowerPoint slides show the growth in performance improvement projects focusing on affordability.

Non-LMP

Tool landing page copy (reporters)

Format:
PowerPoint

Size:
8.5" x 11", three pages

Intended audience:
Department managers, management and union co-leads and UBT sponsors

Best used:
Shows the growth of performance improvement projects, including cost reduction, efficiency and patient safety.

Released

Tracking (editors)

10/24/2012 - 12:00

11/28/2012 - 12:00

Thu, 11/08/2012 - 12:00

Classification (webmaster)

PPT

Affordability

Obsolete (webmaster)

not migrated

Read more about Unit-Based Teams' Growing Focus on Cost of Care

LMP National Dashboard Guide #3: Reports

Submitted by Paul Cohen on Thu, 11/08/2012 - 14:32

Tool Type

Tip Sheets

Format

PDF

Topics

Performance Improvement

Role

UBT Consultants & UPRs

UBT Co-Leads

UBT Sponsors

Taxonomy upgrade extras

lmpartnership.org

tool_national dashboard handout#3.pdf

Simple instructions for viewing and printing reports in the LMP National Dashboard. One of three guides in a series.

Non-LMP

Tool landing page copy (reporters)

LMP National Dashboard Guide #3: Reports

Format:
PDF

Size:
8.5" x 11"

Intended audience:
UBT co-leads, sponsors and consultants

Best used:
Use these instructions to view and print reports in the LMP National Dashboard.

Released

Tracking (editors)

10/25/2012 - 12:00

11/28/2012 - 12:00

Thu, 11/08/2012 - 12:00

Obsolete (webmaster)

not migrated

Read more about LMP National Dashboard Guide #3: Reports

Keeping Better Track of Your Surgical Instruments

Submitted by Jennifer Gladwell on Thu, 11/01/2012 - 12:15

Region

Topics

Role

Hank

Taxonomy upgrade extras

On the Job

lmpartnership.org

bulletin board packet

regional intranet

Request Number

pdsa_ Franklin head and neck_Co_jg_tf

Long Teaser

Colorado Head and Neck Surgery UBT puts a process in place to track expensive surgical instruments, almost completely eliminating losses and saving more than $25,000 a year.

Communicator (reporters)

Jennifer Gladwell

Editor (if known, reporters)

Tyra Ferlatte

Photos & Artwork (reporters)

Only use image in listings (editors)

not listing only

Learn more (reporters)

Michele Boes, Michele.X.Boes@kp.org, 303-764-4422

Angela Peace, Angela.E.Peace@kp.org

Angela Garcia, Angela.M. Garcia@kp.org

Status

Released

Tracking (editors)

Filed

09/25/2012 - 12:00

Flash

11/28/2012 - 12:00

11/01/2012 - 12:00

Story content (editors)

Headline (for informational purposes only)

Keeping Better Track of Your Surgical Instruments

Deck

Team creates inventory system and saves $25,000

Byline

Jennifer Gladwell

Story body part 1

Surgeons need delicate and expensive tools to work.

And with 900 instruments being used and processed for reuse daily in a Head and Neck Surgery department, it’s not hard to lose an instrument.

But replacement at several hundred dollars a pop is expensive.

So, when the Head and Neck team at the Franklin Medical Office in Colorado heard that a reduced budget would not cover lost instruments, team members knew they had to act.

“When we came up to the crisis, we brainstormed through it,” says labor co-lead Angela Garcia, RN, and UFCW Local 7 member.

The team tested several ideas, including color-coding instruments with tape—a change that wasn’t adopted because of infection control issues and it didn’t work.

Then the team tried divvying up the instruments among the 20 patient rooms and two procedure rooms. That didn’t work, either, because each physician has his or her own preference for certain instruments, and the staff didn’t know where the instruments would be needed.

“Nobody was taking responsibility of the instruments,” Garcia says. “We needed to hold people responsible for what they were using.”

The UBT purchased plastic bead boxes from a local craft store and labeled each box by nurse. The nurse was in charge of the box, just as a store clerk is responsible for a cash box. Nurses checked the inventory at the beginning and end of each shift to make sure their boxes balance, and if something was missing, they were responsible for finding it.

The team also took time to educate the entire staff about the process, and explain both how valuable and how fragile the instruments are. This helped everyone understand the reason for the change, and inspired everyone to be more responsible.

“I think the idea of coming up with the system was ingenious,” says Liz Vandyck, a clinical audiologist and member of UFCW Local 7. The team also did monthly audits to measure success.

The team had spent more than $26,000 replacing 300 lost instruments. A year after the successful test of change, only five instruments needed replacing—two were lost and three were broken.

“This was a really interesting way to solve the problem,” says Lorana Brass, MD, one of the department's physicians.

For more about this team's work to share with your team and spark performance improvement ideas, download a poster or PowerPoint.

Obsolete (webmaster)

Migrated

not migrated

Read more about Keeping Better Track of Your Surgical Instruments

PPT: New Printers Lead to Shorter Lines

Submitted by Kellie Applen on Fri, 10/26/2012 - 15:48

Region

Tool Type

Format

Keywords

November Bulletin Board 2012

Franklin Medical Office

Topics

Service

Role

Frontline Workers

UBT Consultants & UPRs

Content Section

Postcards to Posters

Taxonomy upgrade extras

lmpartnership.org

ppt_colo_printers_shorter_lines

This PowerPoint slide, from the November/December 2012 Bulletin Board Packet, features a Colorado UBT that saved money and reduced customer complaints by tackling a printer problem.

Non-LMP

Tool landing page copy (reporters)

PPT: UBT tackles printer problem

Format:
PPT

Size:
1 Slide

Intended audience:
LMP employees, UBT consultants, improvement advisers

Best used:
This PowerPoint slide features a Colorado UBT that saved money and reduced customer complaints by tackling a printer problem. Use in presentations to show some of the methods used and the measurable results being achieved by unit-based teams across Kaiser Permanente.

Released

Tracking (editors)

Fri, 10/26/2012 - 12:00

Obsolete (webmaster)

not migrated

Read more about PPT: New Printers Lead to Shorter Lines

PPT: Team Hailed for Cutting Taxi Costs

Submitted by Kellie Applen on Fri, 10/26/2012 - 11:21

Region

Tool Type

Format

Keywords

North Lancaster Medical Office

November Bulletin Board 2012

lab specimen

Topics

Affordability

Role

Frontline Workers

UBT Consultants & UPRs

Content Section

Postcards to Posters

Taxonomy upgrade extras

lmpartnership.org

ppt_northwest_north_lancaster_medical_office

This PowerPoint slide, from the November/December 2012 Bulletin Board Packet, features a Northwest UBT that saved department money by using an in-house courier to deliver lab specimens rather than a taxi.

Non-LMP

Tool landing page copy (reporters)

Poster: Lab hailed for cutting taxi costs

Format:
PPT

Size:
1 Slide

Intended audience:
LMP employees, UBT consultants, improvement advisers

Best used:
This PowerPoint slide features a Northwest UBT that saved department money by using an in-house courier to deliver lab specimens rather than a taxi. Use in presentations to show some of the methods used and the measurable results being achieved by unit-based teams across Kaiser Permanente.

Released

Tracking (editors)

Fri, 10/26/2012 - 12:00

Obsolete (webmaster)

not migrated

Read more about PPT: Team Hailed for Cutting Taxi Costs

Subscribe to Affordability