Humans of Partnership:
(plain node.html.twig - needs theming)
( still node.html.twig ... )
- Standardizing note-taking styles across the team
- Assigning a financial counselor to each in-need patient
- Working with Admitting Department to identify patients who need assistance and provide counseling
What can your team do to reduce unneeded variation? And what can your team do to work with other teams to improve service?
( end node.html.twig ... )
(plain node.html.twig - needs theming)
( still node.html.twig ... )
- Placing a Gratitude Jar in the entrance of the department (a prominent position)
- “Planting” a Gratitude Tree on a wall
- Buying playful fruit-shaped sticky notes to write their gratitude messages and post on the tree
What can your team do to measure and reduce stress?
( end node.html.twig ... )
(plain node.html.twig - needs theming)
( still node.html.twig ... )
- Sorting and metering mail at fewer locations
- Centralizing facilities mail processing for greater efficiency
- Adding meters, offering overtime, and negotiating lower rates for needed vendor services
What can your team do to consolidate supplies or services? What else could your team do to reduce waste?
( end node.html.twig ... )
(plain node.html.twig - needs theming)
( still node.html.twig ... )
- Opening the lab a half-hour earlier to prevent long lines at the open of business
- Shifting work schedules and staggering lunch hours to have more staff covering available time
- Cross-training staff to register patients, process specimens and draw blood
What can your team do to improve its workflow?
( end node.html.twig ... )
(plain node.html.twig - needs theming)
( still node.html.twig ... )
- Identifying the problem was with the needle supplier
- Filing a Responsible Reporting Form, and working together to arrive at the solution
- Switching needle suppliers to improve care and safety
What can your team do to listen to the voice of the patient?
( end node.html.twig ... )
(plain node.html.twig - needs theming)
( still node.html.twig ... )
- Using key phrases in malnutrition assessment to catch the attention of physicians
- Bolding their recommendations in notes to doctors
- Speaking directly to physicians about potentially malnourished patients
What can your team do to improve cooperation between physicians and other members of the care team?
( end node.html.twig ... )
(plain node.html.twig - needs theming)
( still node.html.twig ... )
- Communicating with the team
- Asking how the team prefers to communicate or meet
- Allowing team members to earn rewards for attendance
What can your team do to improve communication among its members?
( end node.html.twig ... )
Hank Fall 2016
See the whole issueFive-Minute Fix Sharpens Team Focus
Deck
Visual boards show team members what they need to know
Wondering how to keep your meetings short and to the point? Stop by Gilroy Medical Offices in Northern California and watch a unit-based team power through its five-minute daily huddle.
On a Tuesday in October, the Family Medicine UBT for Station 1 gathers around a magnetic marker board filled with visual reminders and messages. Medical assistant and SEIU-UHW member Nabi Lopez takes her turn leading team members through the day’s staffing and scheduling assignments, a discussion of where they stand on key clinical goals and upcoming department events.
Exactly five minutes after they gather, a buzzer sounds, and the 10 nurses, physicians, clerks, pharmacists, EVS staff and others head off to start their day.
A new routine
Crisp meetings and high team engagement were not always the norm for the department.
“Prior to using visual boards, our meetings were few and far between,” says SEIU-UHW member Dawn Reyes-Takaki, a medical assistant and member of the original project team. “They were chaotic, filled with complaints and negativity. Staff felt that changes were forced on them with no input.”
Three years ago, a San Jose-based team studied performance improvement techniques in other organizations. One of the ideas that stood out was the use of visual boards. A larger group of managers, workers and improvement advisors agreed on necessary adjustments and a standard format for the boards, and selected Gilroy Medical Offices to test their use.