California Gov. Jerry Brown congratulates LMP on its success and praises it for making the Golden State a better place to live and raise our families.
Twenty years ago this fall, Kaiser Permanente and the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions formed the innovative Labor Management Partnership—a new way of working that now includes more than 150,000 managers, physicians and union-represented workers across Kaiser Permanente.
To commemorate this event, California Governor Jerry Brown has issued a proclamation congratulating Kaiser Permanente and the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions for 20 years of successful partnership and collaboration.
“This model has resulted in improved patient outcomes, workplace innovations, process efficiencies, and measurable service and quality enhancements while creating a safer, healthier work environment with opportunities for health care workers to improve their skills and advance their careers,” said Governor Brown, “I commend all of the organizers and participants in this process for making the Golden State a better place to live and raise our families.”
The Labor Management Partnership is proof that labor unions aren’t just about making things better for workers, but improving outcomes for everyone. In just the first six months of 2017, partnership teams launched nearly 10,000 self-directed projects to improve Kaiser Permanente’s quality, service, and affordability. Departments with strong employee engagement report:
In 2016, the partnership also helped Kaiser Permanente to keep costs down, with teams working together to save more than $48 million, on top of $35 million saved in 2015.
More than 74 percent of Kaiser Permanente’s workforce is unionized. By contrast, 6.4 percent of private-sector workers nationwide belong to a union, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Union representation is supported by a growing number of Americans, an August 2017 Gallup poll suggests. Sixty-one percent of adults surveyed say they approve of labor unions, the highest percentage since the 65 percent approval recorded in 2003.
Working together, Kaiser Permanente and the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions will continue to improve health care for members and the community overall. Together we thank our workers, managers and physicians for their dedication, and appreciate Governor Brown’s recognition of their accomplishments.
What can your team do create smoother workflows? And how could your team work better with other UBTs to improve performance?
What can your team do to improve your work process?
What can your team do to fill patient care gaps? What else could your team do to proactively meet patient needs?
What can your team do to ensure that members and patients get their necessary screenings? What else could your team do to coach and mentor HeatlthConnect super-users?
What can your team do to collaborate with other departments and help make the care experience even better for our members and patients? What else could your team do to make KP the best place to work and receive care?
By working in partnership and leveraging the power of Kaiser Permanente's electronic health records, this eye care team at Redwood City Medical Center helps patients get the cancer screenings they need.
By working in partnership and leveraging the power of Kaiser Permanente's electronic health records, this eye care team at Redwood City Medical Center helps patients get the cancer screenings they need.
Don’t be surprised to have your medical record checked when you walk in for a flu shot at Lakewood Medical Office in Denver, Colorado. Medical Imagining and the Flu Clinic teams worked together to identify patients who needed a mammogram.
Kaiser Permanente members in Colorado got a little extra care and attention last year when they came for their flu shots at the Lakewood Medical Office. Medical Imagining and the Flu Clinic teams worked together to identify patients who needed a mammogram.
Sheryl Miller, a licensed practical nurse and member of SEIU Local 49, discusses the challenge of integrating electronics into our everyday work. From the Spring 2014 Hank.
Sheryl Miller, a licensed practical nurse and a member of SEIU Local 49, is the technology coordinator for the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions for the Northwest region. She’s worked for Kaiser Permanente for 30 years and has been involved in most of the major electronic changes of our time—including implementation of KP HealthConnect®—and has helped the organization with the challenge of integrating electronics into our everyday work. She was interviewed by LMP Communications Consultant Jennifer Gladwell.
A. I look at the people component of technology. If people are paralyzed with fear, they’ll never use the technology. With KP HealthConnect, we learned that peer-to-peer training, sponsor support and funding for labor flex teams—which have the people who do the job become subject matter experts—was a model for success.
In the 1980s, you did not learn typing as part of your schooling as a nurse. When we implemented KP HealthConnect, we had significant generational gaps. Some employees didn’t type. Through the labor flex teams, we ensured peers were training each other around work they understood.
Technology impacts workforce planning. We have to think ahead so we don’t become extinct. Roles will change, but through the partnership and workforce planning, we can plan for the changes and redeploy impacted staff.
A. Self-check-in kiosks are rolling out in the Northwest clinics. This is what some of our patient population has been asking for. Registration representatives are a group of dedicated employees that have been doing customer service behind a desk. Now, they are being asked to be a concierge, a greeter, as well as answer complex benefit questions.
The Visual Dermatology Assist project is being piloted at two clinics in the Northwest. Medical assistants are being trained, following the provider’s order, to take a picture of a skin irregularity on an iPhone and send it to Dermatology. Sixty-eight percent of the photos were reviewed, diagnosed and had treatment plans within 24 hours. A typical appointment could take six to eight weeks to schedule. This is improving access.
A. ICD-10, the new coding system, goes live in October. We’ve been able to engage UBTs and labor so they are part of making the decisions and determining processes. We’re using peer-to-peer training and trying to break down barriers early on so our staff and members have the best possible outcome.
A. It keeps me up at night. I have spoken to steward councils about privacy. We are seeing an increase in social media violations that could result in people losing their jobs or being fined. We have to be very careful about what we’re posting in social media. It’s so easy to vent about a bad day, but you have to be vigilant to ensure you are not revealing patient information. I am here for the patient and to educate employees on privacy and security.
A. I work off of fact. It’s a policy that we do not go into our own medical record or those of others unless we have a business need to do so. I am a union member, but I will never lose sight that I am here for the company, patient and union, and we all have to work together to be successful.
A. I work with great people, locally and nationally. I’m not a technology expert, but if you remember the people behind the technology, it works really well. If I can help someone in care delivery enhance their ability to take care of our patients, then I’ve done my job. Technology and people are not going away—so we have to be willing to advance with it.
Read more about the how LMP and KP are planning for the future.