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Always Wash Your Hands
The pediatrics team increased hand-washing rates after it put up posters of cute kids as hand-washing reminders and made other common-sense improvements.
- Hand-washing is a simple way to combat inpatient infection.
- Posting reminders to regularly wash hands
The Key to Great Service: Call and Response
Service scores shot up when this oncology team paired a nurse with a buddy to help with patient response.
- Responding to a patient’s needs is central to their care.
- Pairing with a buddy can shorten patient response times
Safety’s Secret Ingredient
The Ambulatory Care Pharmacy team achieved 3 ½ years without a workplace injury by training staff as ergonomic assessors and implementing peer safety rounds.
- The department’s strong speaking-up culture helps team members address problems quickly.
- Training staff members as ergonomic assessors and developing peer safety rounds
Transformed Team Tracks Transplant Patients
UBT dramatically improves the percentage of kidney transplant patients getting follow-up screenings and services.
- Regular follow-up care is crucial for kidney transplant patients, who are at risk for a host of complications, including cancer and pneumonia.
- Team hosted a special clinic for post-transplant patients, enabling them to get all their follow-up care in one visit
Needle-Stick Injuries Drop to 0
Surgery team creates safe way to pass sharps to each other and reinforces messaging with fliers.
- Reducing needle-stick injuries protects our employees and ensures they are ready and able to care for our members.
- Creating a “Pass Free Zone” to discourage team members from directly handing needles and other sharp objects to each other
Whiteboard Helps Rehab Communications
Information-sharing improved among different groups of the care giving staff.
- Nurses, physical therapists, patients and family members all have the same information about the case.
- Using a whiteboard in patient rooms to record physical therapy sessions
Paying a Fair Share for Orthotic Supplies
The team began to properly charge members for orthotic supplies and increased revenue.
- Increased revenue helps us continue to provide high-quality care to our members.
- Identifying loss of revenue and creating new plan
Taking a Closer Look
A Vision Essentials Optical Center team figured out ways to reduce the prescription glasses redo rate.
- Reducing the redo rate for prescription glasses benefits employees and patients in terms of money and time.
- Coaching employees on new HealthConnect protocols and collaborating with other teams
Let’s Talk About Copayments
Copay collection went up after this Admitting team learned about resources available to member who have trouble paying their bills.
- Patient copayments are one of several sources of revenue that affect Kaiser Permanente's bottom line and enable us to provide high-quality health care and pay workers’ wages.
- Educating and training staff about financial help available to members
Staff Buddies Up to Inform Patients
Positive patient responses for staff communications increased 17 percent for the department in three months.
- Patients express appreciation when informed about wait times and delays, which shows respect for their time and eases anxiety.
- Schedulers and receptionists from two clinics paired up for one-hour shifts during predictably busy times to keep patients informed about wait times.
Easing the Pain for Babies, Families
NICU team improves service scores and provides better service by educating new parents about infant pain management.
- Caregivers want not only to manage babies’ pain but also alleviate parents’ anxieties and help them know what to expect.
- Use a consistent script to discuss pain management during the admission process and keep parents informed throughout the baby’s stay in the NICU
No One Walks Alone
From an average of 16 patient falls per month, the number went down to three a month.
- Both patients and morale were suffering at the San Diego Medical Center telemetry unit, which had twice as many patient falls as the next-worst unit.
- Treat every patient as a fall risk and ensure each patient is accompanied — especially to and from the bathroom, when most falls occur