Sponsors are the go-to people for UBT co-leads, providing resources, guidance and oversight. Effective sponsorship is a key ingredient in moving a team to high performance. If you’re a sponsor, provide your teams with the support they need to create an environment where UBT members are always learning, always improving and always innovating. It’s important for management, union and physician sponsors to model the behavior they want to see in UBT co-leads and members.
Pioneering leader of UNAC/UHCP passed away December 31.
How one team personalized care for Latino patients and improved outcomes.
When it comes to addressing health care disparities, medical office assistant Anna Jenkins thinks her unit-based team is up to the challenge.
“I can go to my UBT members and say, ‘This is a care gap. Give me your feedback. Give me your ideas,’” says Jenkins, an OPEIU Local 30 member and labor co-lead for the Rancho San Diego Primary Care team. “Our administration listens to us. They’re very open to letting us try it our own way.”
The Level 5 team is leveraging Labor Management Partnership principles and tools to communicate, coordinate and customize care for Latino patients with diabetes. The approach has led to better health outcomes and improved service for a group disproportionately impacted by diabetes.
The unit-based team has increased the number of Latino patients ages 65 to 75 whose blood sugar levels are under control, according to recent clinical quality measures.
“That partnership between management and labor is important,” says Silvia Hernandez, RN, medical office administrator and the team’s management sponsor. “This teamwork helps us to improve patient care and quality with excellent member satisfaction.”
Key to the team’s success is partnering with Complete Care Management, a specialized strike force that monitors the health of patients who struggle to control chronic conditions, such as diabetes and high blood pressure.
To better support her Latino patients, care manager Lily Thamiz, RN, has adapted her approach. She books longer appointments for Spanish-speaking patients who need interpreters, refers others to bilingual diabetes education classes, and relies on phone calls to connect with those short on time.
“The only time we can talk is when they’re driving,” says Thamiz, a member of Specialty Care Nurses of Southern California, an affiliate of UNAC/UHCP. “These are solutions I’d never considered before.”
UBT members tailor treatment in other ways, too. To ensure continuity of care for Latino patients in their 60s and 70s, they standardized the steps needed to download and share data from glucose monitors. Providers use the devices to track patients’ blood sugar levels and adjust their medications. By consistently managing and sharing data, staff members guarantee they do not miss crucial patient information when communicating with one another.
“They make you feel like you really matter,” says Mary Hart, 71, a Latina patient who has diabetes. “They really show their concern for your health.”
Introducing 4 examples of how unit-based teams are answering the call to address care gaps.
Format:
PDF
Size:
Best printed on 8.5" x 14" paper; 33 pages
Intended audience:
Mid-level leaders
Best used:
Carry this guide in your pocket to quickly refer to the concepts and processes teams can use to work in partnership effectively. This is a 2018 KP-Alliance National Agreement deliverable.
This pocket guide for mid-level leaders distills the key principles and practices of the Labor Management Partnership into a handy booklet. This is a 2018 KP-Alliance National Agreement deliverable.
When a state-of-the-art lab opened, some feared the technology and worried it would replace jobs. The results may surprise you. See how adapting to change can help members, workers and the enterprise.
When a state-of-the-art lab opened, some feared the new technology. Employees worried it would replace jobs. But the results may surprise you. See how adapting to change is helping patients, workers and Kaiser Permanente.
Format:
PDF
Size:
8.5" x 11"
Intended audience:
Kaiser Permanente managers
Best used:
Use this guide to learn what resources are available and be prepared to discuss workforce development with your teams.
Learn what resources are available and be prepared to discuss workforce development with your teams.
Using a model perfected by building trades unions, KP and Partnership unions create labor pools to deploy the right workers to the right places in the fight against COVID-19.
One labor and delivery team consistently provides excellent care and service by keeping the lines of communication open.
This labor and delivery team cultivates a #FreeToSpeak culture, which has helped members provide consistently excellent care and service to new moms.
Format:
PDF
Size:
8.5” x 11” (29 pages)
Intended audience:
Anyone interested in LMP principles and their history
Best used:
This pamphlet sheds light on the issues the Labor Management Partnership faced during its first 5 years. It outlines the findings that came an important round of discussions in 2002, when union and Kaiser Permanente leaders reaffirmed that putting the LMP vision into practice was essential to the future of the organization.
The 2002 report that sheds light on the issues and challenges that faced our Labor Management Partnership in its first 5 years.