By tweaking procedures, a team of optical technicians in the Northwest overcame a problem that was causing damage to new eyeglass lenses it prepared for KP members.

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If one word inspires dread in the Optical Lab Surface department, it is “swirl.”

The Northwest team helps make eyeglasses for Kaiser Permanente members. Their work is sometimes complicated by swirls – circular scratches on the lenses that can occur during the production process.

In 2022, the team - based at Kaiser Permanente Sunnyside Medical Center outside Portland - grappled with a mysterious increase of swirls.

“Normally, we will get about one swirl per day that we can’t polish out,” says Rodney Edwards, department supervisor and the team’s management co-lead. “But suddenly we were seeing 12 or 13 per day. We knew we were dealing with something very strange.”

When extra polishing can't remove a swirl, the team must fashion a new set of lenses. This raises costs and slows production, delaying delivery of eyeglasses to KP members.

By conducting a painstaking review of its processes, the team uncovered the cause of the swirl surge and improved care and service.

When everyone participates in performance improvement, the better the results and the stronger the work environment. Collaborating on performance improvement also advances a culture at KP in which continuous learning and improvement come naturally.

From technicians to sleuths

Finding the source of the swirls was not easy. The Level 4 team prepares about 700 eyeglass lenses each day.

“It’s tough for us to troubleshoot these things," says Dustin Rushing, an optical lab technician and OFNHP Local 5017 member, who is the team's labor co-lead. "We’re operating at such a high volume we can’t really stop the presses."

To identify the problem, the team performed multiple tests of change.

Team members analyzed vats of liquid lens polish. They improvised new polish filtration devices. They scrutinized surfacing procedures and the calibrations of each piece of machinery. The tests and tweaks occurred while the team tried to keep up with high demand for eyeglasses.

Weeks of testing uncovered the problem: wear and tear on machinery was leaving metal shavings in liquid used to polish new lenses. The solution? Modifying worker procedures and intensifying maintenance and replacement of machine parts.

As a result, the team saw a 94% reduction in swirls during the first 4 months of 2023. That success continues. The team reduced monthly costs to replace damaged lenses, from $525 to $31, for a projected annual savings of $6,000.

While the cost savings may seem small, it illustrates the impact of unit-based teams. Enterprisewide, more than 3,600 teams contribute to KP’s national leadership in measures of affordability, quality, service, and care.

The project earned the optical lab team a UBT Excellence Award from regional leaders.

“The biggest reason for this project’s success was the openness and communication between us all,” Edwards says. “That really opened up some doors for us as a team.”

Communicator (reporters)

Guy Ashley

Editor (if known, reporters)

Sherry Crosby

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Developing

11/28/2023 - 12:00

Take Action: Get to Know Your Patients

By asking patients about their backgrounds in a respectful, and compassionate way, teams across Kaiser Permanente are changing how they deliver care and service to members.

Share these resources with your team to improve health equity for everyone:

Icebreaker: Intersectionality. Use this activity to connect with your teammates and build empathy and understanding critical for workplace equity.
Hank: Equity for All. Find inspiration in this Hank magazine issue featuring frontline teams who are advancing equity for patients and workers.
Speaking the Same Language. See how the Urgent Care team from Reston, Virginia, used a simple reminder card to collect patient demographic information.
Personalizing Care for Patients. Learn how the Mid-Valley Addiction Medicine team is seeking to better understand the health needs of LGBTQ+ patients.

Read more about Optical Team Solves Swirling Mystery

How Unit-Based Teams Make Kaiser Permanente a Better Place to Work

08/27/2018 - 12:00

Article by

Byline

Paul Cohen

Deck

Positive results for KP members, patients and workers

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Do teams get better results when frontline workers are engaged, free to speak and can influence decisions? Yes, say the people who know best — Kaiser Permanente workers and managers themselves.

Recent People Pulse surveys confirm that unit-based teams get positive results for health plan members and patients, the organization and workers themselves.

For instance, the 2017 People Pulse survey of more than 155,000 KP employees showed that when union-represented employees are highly involved in UBT activities, they get 29 percent higher scores on measures of their willingness to speak up — a key driver of patient and workplace safety and satisfaction. They also get 33 percent higher scores on questions regarding workplace health and wellness.

Improved safety and satisfaction

Further analysis, included in the 2016 People Pulse survey, showed that teams with high employee involvement have:

18 percent fewer workplace injuries
13 percent fewer lost work days
4 percent higher patient satisfaction

“Our findings show that employees who are highly involved in their unit-based teams feel more able to speak up and more encouraged to take care of their health,” says Nicole VanderHorst, principal research consultant with KP Engagement & Inclusion Analytics. “That makes them more likely to have better performance outcomes.”

A better way to work

Workers’ greater propensity to speak up and look after their health when they’re involved in team activities covers several questions (see chart below). For example, workers who are highly involved in their UBTs are far more likely to say:

The Labor Management Partnership has helped improve organizational performance and working conditions.
They can influence decisions affecting their work.
They’re comfortable voicing differing opinions.
Management uses their ideas to improve care.
They’re encouraged, and encourage others, to take care of their health.

Click to enlarge.

Roots of workforce engagement

All these factors contribute to a better employee experience as well as performance. And UBTs reflect KP’s unique history with the labor movement.

“Henry Kaiser was perhaps the 20th century’s most worker-friendly industrialist. He supported organized labor and knew that people step up when allowed to exert their job experience, as they do with UBTs,” says KP archivist and historian Lincoln Cushing. “He trusted employees to make decisions that benefitted themselves and their organizations.”

If you belong to a unit-based team — and most union-represented employees do — talk with a team co-lead about ways to get more involved.

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