How did one UBT in Georgia zoom from Level 1 to Level 4 in just 10 months? Get some strategic tips on moving up the Path to Performance quickly and building a strong team.
Sometimes the best way to spread effective practices is to spread experienced people. That’s what happened when the Alpharetta Ob-Gyn UBT in Georgia zoomed from Level 1 to Level 4 in just 10 months after two nurses from two different high-performing UBTs transferred there at the same time.
Jane Baxter and Ingrid Baillie had been UBT co-leads at two different clinics when they each got a new job with the Alpharetta Ob-Gyn department. They both drew on their experiences to guide their new team when they became co-leads at Alpharetta. “We knew the steps in the process and what to expect,” says Baxter, the department’s charge nurse.
Fledgling teams should begin with small performance improvement projects, they say. “We started with the low-hanging fruit,” says Baillie, RN, a member of UFCW Local 1996. “You don’t need to reach for the stars right out of the box.”
And, says Baillie, there’s no need to look any further than Kaiser Permanente’s organization-wide and regional priorities to find plenty of ideas for performance improvement projects—and a wealth of data that is being collected regularly.
“KP makes no secret about what is important to it,” says Baillie. “From that alone, you have all the data you need.”
For instance, the Alpharetta team’s first efforts were to improve clinic start time and get a second blood pressure test for patients with high initial readings. “These are important to KP, and they helped us gel as a team,” says Baillie.
“Small wins help develop confidence,” says Baxter. Now the team is taking on more complex cross-departmental initiatives, such as trying to make available online the big packet of paperwork patients need to complete before a first Ob-Gyn visit.
Getting physicians involved also has been part of this UBT’s success. You won’t find doctors who think UBTs are just for clinic staff on this team, says Baxter.
“Our providers are very invested,” she says. “They take minutes at meetings. We are all on an equal playing field.”
Jane Baxter, Susan.J.Baxter@kp.org, 770-663-3163
Ingrid Baillie, Ingrid.M.Baillie@kp.org, 770-663-3163
Susan Harwood, Susan.Harwood@kp.org
This PowerPoint slide highlights an EVS team that uses webinars to spread successful practices.
This poster highlights an EVS team that uses webinars to spread successful practices.
Format:
PDF (color and black and white)
Size:
8.5" x 11"
Intended audience:
Frontline employees, managers and physicians
Best used:
Use this template to help you share stories of your team's successes and failures—and help tranform KP into the best place to receive and give care. Post on bulletin boards in break rooms and other staff areas.
Use this template to help you share stories of your team's successes and failures--and help tranform KP into the best place to receive and give care.
Format:
PDF (color and black and white)
Size:
8.5" x 11"
Intended audience:
Frontline employees, managers and physicians
Best used: A reminder that by sharing stories of your team’s successes and challenges, you are showing everyone the way to better health care for all, inspiring others to follow your lead. On bulletin boards in break rooms and other staff areas.
A reminder that by sharing stories of your team’s successes and challenges, you are showing everyone the way to better health care for all, inspiring others to follow your lead.
Format:
PDF (color and black and white) and DOC
Size:
16 pages, 8.5" x 11"
Intended audience:
UBT co-leads and team members
Best used:
This workbook, developed by LMP Communications for storytelling workshops, features simple steps to outline your story. Use it to spread best practices by unit-based teams through presentations, storyboards and newsletters. Download, print out and share with your teams.
This workbook features blank templates for your storytelling needs. Use them for department newsletters, UBT fair storyboards or presentations to your team or LMP leaders.
See how huddles have helped Kaiser Permanente teams improve communication, morale and best of all—patient care.
Successful unit-based teams, those that continuously improve performance and lead change, use huddles to share information and stay on top of team business. This video highlights two KP teams that regularly huddle to tackle day-to-day issues, advance performance improvement projects and give "snaps" to colleagues who go the extra mile. See how huddles and snapping have helped these teams improve communication, morale and best of all—patient care.
The recycling ethic has spread throughout the Moanalua Medical Center in Honolulu, an example of how UBTs are sharing effective practices.
This Word document contains passports to be used to engage unit-based team fair attendees.
Format:
PDF (color and black and white)
Size:
8.5" x 11" (double-sided)
Intended audience:
Co-leads of representative UBTs and team representatives
Best used:
Use one or more of these tips to help make sure all the UBT members—not just those who sit on the team's representive body—are engaged in and informed about the team's work.
You may also like: The 8.5" x 11" bulletin board poster (single-sided) with this information.
Leaders of representative UBTs can use these tips to help make sure the entire staff is informed and engaged.