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Emails Lick Stamps and Envelopes on Savings

  • Using the Rapid Improvement Model to identify goals and the steps needed to improve performance
  • Tracking the number of paper envelopes mailed to patients
  • Developing smart phrases to expedite email communication

What can your team to do expand the use of existing technology to provide patients faster service? 

Affordability

Tips for Greening Your Work Life

Deck
Ways to help the environment while saving money

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Unit-based teams can play a part in greening our environment and saving money. Involve your team in tests of change around recycling or reducing supply waste.

  1. Coordinate with other departments, such as EVS, materials management or procurement and supply, on green tests of change — or “embed” a member of one of these departments in your UBT.
  2. Work with your facility’s waste-hauling vendors to find out what types of materials and supplies can be recycled, and place recycling bins strategically in cafeterias and near exits.
  3. Cut down on costly, wasteful single-use medical devices or supplies as part of performance improvement efforts.
  4. EVS teams: Switch to environmentally friendly cleaning products and supplies.
  5. Invite your teammates to shop for locally sourced, organic fruits and vegetables at the nearest KP weekly farmer’s market.
  6. Host a monthly healthy salad bar, like the UBT at San Diego’s Positive Choice clinic did in its successful effort to improve attendance.
  7. Replace thirsty plants for drought-tolerant alternatives, as several teams in Northern and Southern California have done.
  8. Go paperless: Don’t print out agendas and documents; send them out via email or show on a projector instead.
  9. Recruit a champion in your department to be on the lookout for new opportunities and coach others on greening their workplace.

 

Need an Idea? Borrow One!

Better Coordination Spells R-e-l-i-e-f for Telemetry Team

  • Reviewing the department budget and using performance improvement tools to determine the causes of overtime
  • Revamping the department workflow and coordinating with each other to schedule a relief RN to cover those on break
  • Educating and reminding staff about the importance of clocking in and out on time
  • Encouraging nurses to notify their managers two hours before the end of shift if they expect to work overtime.

Hank Q2/Q3-2017

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Right Setting, Lower Costs, Better Care

Article by
Byline
Jennifer Gladwell

Deck
Team improves care and helps save $1 million by educating patients about Emergency Department use

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When the Ridgeline Behavioral Health team members in Colorado decided to tackle outside medical costs, even they were surprised at how their small touch on a huge issue could result in such significant savings.

Team members identified two ways they thought they could have an impact—including finding out which of their patients were being seen frequently in the Emergency Department—while helping their patients get appropriate care. 

“We know from evidence-based medicine that if patients are seeking care in the Emergency Department for mental health issues, it’s unlikely to provide a long-term improvement in symptoms,” explains Amy Martin, manager of Ridgeline Behavioral Health. 

Team members began the project by researching which outside hospitals Kaiser Permanente prefers to have members and patients use. Armed with the new information, they created a flier explaining the options and shared it with the rest of the staff, who then shared it with patients. This way, when patients did access care, they were more likely to go to a facility that KP has a contract with and thus, cut costs.

The results were remarkable. The team’s patients’ visits to emergency departments decreased by 8.25 percent, which in turn reduced ED costs by 26 percent. The total impact for 2016: $1 million in soft-dollar savings. 

Need an Idea? Borrow One!

Provide Good Care, Save With Secondary Tubing

  • Looking for less expensive options, like switching from primary tubing to secondary tubing
  • Using secondary instead of primary tubing for IV patients, whenever it is medically safe
  • Working through the change so everyone on the team understands and adapts

What can your team do to make sure it's using the right supplies for the job? What else could your team do to keep KP affordable for patients and members?

 

Go on Point to Reduce Missing Lab Orders

  • Assigning a point person to work with physicians and departments to ensure patients have the needed lab orders
  • Coordinating efforts across the multiple departments that engage in a patient's treatment
  • Assigning a backup assistant to ensure the point duties are covered

What can your team do to identify where things "fall through the cracks"? What else could your team do to put the patient at the center? 

 

Fully Stocked and No Waste for Less Money

  • Creating computer spreadsheet to track inventory and order supplies
  • Labeling shelves and supplies more clearly to reduce clutter
  • Eliminating hoarding and rarely used supplies, and consolidating orders

What can your team do to harness the power of technology? What else could your team do to centralize information that is scattered? 

New Printers + No Jams = Happy Patients

  • Creating a "tick sheet" for staff to note how much paper and toner is wasted
  • Figuring how often IT is called and how many patients are affected
  • Getting authorization for newer and more efficient printers

What can your team do to build a business case for better equipment? What else could your team do to reduce wasted time and effort?

Bring Mail Together and Bring Costs Down

  • 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?

 

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