UFCW L27

Spurred by nationwide protests against racism and social injustice, unit-based team members are launching cultural  competency projects aimed at delivering more equitable outcomes for their patients by looking closely at their own beliefs. 

Mid-Atlantic psychotherapist Erin Seifert knows that big change often involves many small steps. Delivering equitable care is no different, she says. 

“To give our patients the support and resources they need, we have to start with ourselves and our own biases and cultural competence,” says Seifert, labor co-lead for the North Baltimore Behavioral Health team and a member of UFCW Local 27. 

Team members, who are represented by unions belonging to the Alliance of Health Care Unions and the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, began a monthly lunch-and-learn series about bias awareness in November. Activities include a pre- and post-evaluation and guided learning exercises that stimulate conversation about differences. 

“It’s very informative,” says Regina Foreman, a mental health assistant and member of OPEIU Local 2. “I’ve learned a lot, especially about implicit bias. The training is helping me be more aware of my own biases.” 

Such responses are encouraging, says Kristin Whiting-Davis, operations manager and the team’s management co-lead. 

“We need to be able to talk about our own privileges and our own biases,” Whiting-Davis says. “I hope it will help people practice having those discussions that, ultimately, will translate into the work we do with our members.

Welcoming all

Eager to protect their young patients from the effects of racism, members of the Southwood Pediatrics team in Jonesboro, Georgia, began by educating themselves. They held listening sessions for staff and read about the impact of intolerance on children.

Their efforts informed discussions on ways to create a more welcoming environment for patients, families and each other. Ideas include a coloring contest featuring uplifting images, adding diverse artwork to the department and creating resources for families coping with racial biases.

Next steps call for staff members to vote on the most promising proposals for further action.

“We want all cultures and races to feel welcome when they come to our pediatrics unit,” says Stephanie Henry, MD, physician co-lead of the Southwood Pediatrics team. “We all have biases. We need to be open and honest about how to confront them. Then we can build bridges to start having conversations about the patient’s health.”

With reporting by Brenda Rodriguez and Tracy Silveria.

Northern California: Staff laptops make life easier 

Even in a fast-paced Emergency Department, change doesn’t always come swiftly.

“I’m old school,” says Jacinta Laupua, a clerk and SEIU-UHW member, who was one of the last holdouts when her team decided to try using laptop computers to gather member signatures. 

“I thought of every excuse in the book. But now I love it,” she continues. “If I don’t have a laptop assigned to me, I ask other clerks if they are using theirs, because I want one. In fact, we need more.”

The laptops, provided through a regional initiative, are at the heart of a successful unit-based team project to reduce paper and copying costs in the Emergency Department at the South Sacramento Medical Center. The total savings came to more than $88,000 in 2016. 

The Level 5 UBT’s project got under way in late 2015, when clerks and the team’s co-leads—Bianca Ruff, a clerk and SEIU-UHW member, and managers Susan Velasquez, administrative services manager, and Neeta Kumar, administrative clerical supervisor—brainstormed ways to improve cost savings and efficiency. Their first goal was to save $27,820 over four months. 

Soon team members were trying out the use of laptops with signature capture pads. The technology makes it possible for clerks to register patients at their bedside and record their information and signature electronically. Not only does this eliminate the need for paper registration forms, it also increases the clerks’ mobility and efficiency.

There were many small tests of change needed before everything was working smoothly, but the project has been so successful the department has invested in nine laptops on wheels. And all Emergency Department clerks are trained on
the computers. 

“It’s almost too painful to remember how we used to process forms,” jokes Ruff.

—Tracy Lee Silveria

Northwest: Pharmacy team ‘owns’ its inventory, saves thousands

When team members at the Community Care Pharmacy in the Northwest region did a routine inventory, they were astounded at the value of their expired medications that no longer could be returned. 

“We took a $70,000 loss,” says Rob Yancey, the pharmacy’s manager. The pharmacy serves patients in extended care facilities and often fills prescriptions for costly and uncommon drugs.

Susan Luu, an inventory technician and member of UFCW Local 555, spearheaded a successful project that drew on the free-to-speak culture and collaborative spirit that helps make this a Level 5 team. 

“I knew it was too much to do by myself,” Luu says. “I felt comfortable talking with my manager, and his response was, ‘Let me see how can I can help.’” 

Different staff members “owned” a section of the pharmacy to check for outdated or slow-moving medications. By the time the team did its next inventory, losses had dropped to $7,000.

—Jennifer Gladwell

Mid-Atlantic States: Tackling unwanted side effect of a computer upgrade

When the South Baltimore County Medical Center laboratory in the Mid-Atlantic States region upgraded its computer system in December 2015, it inadvertently increased lab costs. 

The problem? While the new system has many great features, it doesn't have a way to alert staff when providers add a new test to an existing order. In May 2016, the lab missed 32 percent of these “add-ons,” a total of 30 tests, says Samuel Endalew, the lab’s lead technician, a UFCW Local 27 member and the team’s labor co-lead. 

The mistake inconveniences members, who must return to the lab to provide a new specimen. Each missed add-on costs Kaiser Permanente about $35 in extra supplies and employee time. 

The solution: a system to check the lab’s inbox for add-on tests and a team binder to track their progress. By February 2017, the team was missing only 2 percent of add-ons and saving about $1,050 a month.

Leaders from other area labs are considering adopting the process.

—Otesa Miles