Team-Tested Practices

• Reducing the use of butterfly needles
• Assessing when it’s sufficient to use a standard needle
• Allowing phlebotomists to self-monitor

What can your team do to use your resources more efficiently? What else could your team do to reduce waste? 

• Training your team about the co-pay collection process and how to ask for money
• Educating about the importance of co-pays and the availability of financial assistance
• Hiring a financial counselor, and making them both visible and available to patients

What can your team do to get needed trainings from other departments? What else could your team do to see how your work fits into KP's "big picture"? 

• Training staff on how to handle cash, and tracking payments
• Getting a lock box to safely store cash payments, and reviewing data at monthly meetings
• Letting other teams know that cash payments are possible

What can your team do to look at the care experience though the eyes of the patient? What else could your team do to make going to the doctor easier for the member? 

• Training staff members to be Level 1 ergonomic assessors
• Colleagues rounding on each other every month
• Acting on employees’ concerns by making changes to workstations  

What can your team do to support each other's concerns? What else could your team do to follow up on issues?

• Using a “blitz” approach to the work queues, when new sessions get backed up
• Mobilizing everyone to work on the same queue until the backlog decreases
• Shifting from the existing practice of everyone working in individual queues

What can your team do to tackle large issues that are creating a backlog? Where else could your team use a "blitz" approach?

• Identifying members who are eligible for colorectal screening
• Developing scripting to personalize the importance of the screening
• Creating a process for follow up with members

What can your team do to humanize your approach in talking to patients about cancer screenings? 

• 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?

• Using an evaluation checklist to determine whether the catheter is medically necessary and properly secured
• Re-educating registered nurses and certified nursing assistants on catheter use and how to minimize factors that cause bladder infections
• Encouraging physicians to refrain from administering a catheter when it wasn’t necessary and to take catheters out at the earliest opportunity

What can your team do to encourage each other to examine procedures and alter if necessary?

• Developing specialized scripts for clinical nurse assistants (CNAs), who make outreach calls to patients with hypertension, and for receptionists, who make reminder calls about check-up appointments
• Refining workflow so CNAs consistently send patients with elevated blood pressure to nurse practitioners for management
• Referring patients with complex blood pressure medication management for additional consultation

What can your team do streamline processes to meet patient care goals?