1. Case for Partnership
Our Journey at KP
The Dream Team- Louise Dempsey, Alan Kroll, Mary Anne Madruga, Shelly Richmond, Donna Warner
Power of Partnership Course Project- Spring 2012
The Northwest regional surgical services team, have a straight forward charge : Keeping patients safe from harm. First step was to hold a Patient Safety Summit, the goal was to change the culture standing in the way of patient safety. They identified that the current culture did not allow for open dialogue. “There were defined borders about what someone could say” Today staff is encouraged to speak up when something does not look right in the operating room. OR attire- adapting a theme from a popular television show “what not to wear” the teams have established a dress code that conforms to the Association of perioperative Registered Nurses standard. One change was removing the skull cap from the uniform. Hand Hygiene- “It’s in your hands in the OR’ is the theme for this initiative there is continuous monitoring and training throughout the teams on this topic. Hair removal- “Clip It” if a patient needs hair removed from surgery it is now clipped instead of shaved, shaving can result in tiny cuts that are highly susceptible to infections. Preparing the Patient- “Don’t infect, Chloraprep” this initiative highlights the importance of using the right prepping agent, Chloraprep combines 2 cleansing agents increasing the cleanliness of the site. Identifying these 5 important steps and working together to see them accomplished helped the NW surgical Services teams reduce the rate of surgical site infections by 32% and saved an estimated $220,000. Although their main focus was quality in patient safety they also hit on affordability.
“ Small team, BIG impact” this Medicare Risk Business Service UBT consists of 5 auditors, a data analyst and a manager. They are responsible for reviewing charts for Medicare advantage population to make sure Medicare has been billed appropriately for all inpatient stays. Culture- prior to launching their UBT this department had a history of poor communication and lack of trust with management and each other; they would often work in silos and not as a team. By exploring their individual work styles they have created a strong foundation of trust, confidence, efficiency and best practices. Communication was a key factor in changing their culture, learning about each other’s communication styles was an eye opener and they developed ways to communicate with each other which included realizing it was okay to ask “do you need some time to think about it?’ They have developed and maintained the following successful habits Huddles- 2-3 times a week to review goals Value Compass- by staying focused on the “member at the center”, collecting reimbursements correlates directly with keeping premiums affordable Accountability- checking in with one another to stay on target and helping out where needed Instant messaging- is used by the team to discuss how to handle the daily work load, giving them the ability to quickly shift and realign work. By improving the culture and communication in this department they have been able to capture over $5 million dollars in Medicare reimbursement. Although this teams main focus was affordability they quickly recognized and were able to work on best place to work on the value compass.
