Team-Tested Practices

• Identifying persistent asthmatics, instead of waiting to follow up on ER visits
• Discussing with patients and parents how to avoid flare-ups
• Educating about the proper use of their medication to control the disease

 What can your team do to harness KP's unique tools to enhance preventive care? And  what can your team do to help patients better understand their care? 

• Highlighting options for taking days off, such as life balance days, vacation time and the Family and Medical Leave Act
• Encouraging a Thrive culture and extending lunch hours to allow for walks and fresh air
• Hosting monthly wellness potlucks to bond and build team unity

What can your team do to ensure employees know about the benefits and policies that affect them? 

• Correcting wrong numbers in the Patient Member Handbook
• Handling calls directly instead of routing to call center, adding voice mail and returning messages hourly
• Wearing wireless headsets to take calls remotely

What can your team do to look at its work through the eyes of the patient? 

• Instituting a regular nap time, testing both 1-3 p.m. and 2-4 p.m. slots
• Communicating to staff and families about nap time, to be quiet and posting alerts
• Coordinating with other departments to see if adjustments to time period are needed

What can your team do to try out different potiential solutions without being afraid of failure? 

• Standardizing pain medication schedules, and include follow-up calls after discharge
• Reassessing patient and communicating with her when next med is scheduled
• Reinforcing the idea that “every patient is my patient” and have "no-pass" policy

What can your team do to to put the patient at the center? 

• Posting laminated cards at med stations of commonly used drugs and where these are regulary stored
• Delivering drugs 15 minutes prior to adminstration to allow time to be prepared
• Color-coding bins of new meds to distinguish from a patient’s discontinued meds

What can your team do to plan ahead and prepare in advance to anticipate patient needs?

• Reformatting the log sheets to clarify tasks and reduce confusion
• Discussing the goals of compliance regularly and setting deadlines for completing logs
• Double-checking the logs to ensure quality of process and relieve patient anxiety

What can your team do to improve your work process? 

• Discussing the problem and identifying the process to establish a chain of custody
• Creating a procedural map, highlighted with photos and standardized tasks
• Distributing laminated copies to appropriate areas of lab

What can your team do to analyze and improve your workflow? 

• Including Mrs. Dash seasoning packets with meals
• Writing scripts for personnel to educate patients
• Getting informed on all diet options

What can your team do to look at a hospital stay through the eyes of a patient?