How UBTs are getting results
Examples of operational success
March - September 2011
Inpatient Transport, San Jose Medical Center
Transporters Improve Response Times
WHAT THEY DID:
RESULTS:
Moved from a decentralized inpatient transport
system to a centralized dispatch system.
• Transporters completed 68% more patient
trips per day and arrived at a patient location
within five minutes of the call
90% of the time.
• The average response time went from
4 minutes to 2.5 minutes.
• The change is saving an estimated $200,000
annually from overtime that had been
incurred when nurses and other technicians
did some of the transporting.
• Workplace injuries have decreased, from
seven in 2008 to one in 2010.
Read more about the teams work and other successful
practices on the Labor Management website,
www.LMPartnership.org.
Physical Therapy/Occupational Therapy, Sunnyside Medical Center, Northwest
Squeezing wasted time
out of inpatient PT/OT sessions
WHAT THEY DID:
RESULTS:
The UBT found that more than half of the time
they spent with patients was wasted—either
because of the frequent interruptions during a
session or because patients weren’t ready for
treatment when the therapist arrived. The team
decided to post signs on the doors of patient
rooms and to improve communication with the
nurses on the floor.
Read more about the teams work and other successful
practices on the Labor Management website,
www.LMPartnership.org.
Out-patient Pharmacy, Parma, Ohio
Ohio UBT improves service time
WHAT THEY DID:
RESULTS:
• Developed a customer service survey for
technicians to ask members about their
experiences and wait times.
From the fourth quarter of 2009 to the third
quarter of 2010, Parma Pharmacy improved
the following scores:
• Services representatives round regularly in the
wait area to look for members who may have
been waiting a half-hour or longer.
Read more about the teams work and other successful
practices on the Labor Management website,
www.LMPartnership.org.
FEATURED TEAM: Ambulatory Surgery Recovery, Moanalua Medical Center, Honolulu
Cutting costs, clutter in the OR
WHAT THEY ARE DOING:
Team members created a more organized supply
room by clearly labeling shelves and supplies,
helping them keep better track of their inventory.
They are also maintaining the inventory on a
computer.
RESULTS:
The team saved nearly $10,000 per month by
reducing duplicate and overstocked supplies
for medical center’s operating room.
Labor co-lead: Avis Yasumura, RN, Hawaii Nurses Association,
OPEIU Local 50
Management co-lead: Janet Lundberg, RN, procedural
sedation manager
Read more about the teams work and other successful
practices on the Labor Management website,
www.LMPartnership.org.
FEATURED TEAM: Internal Medicine, Hidden Lake Medical Office, Colorado
New division of labor slashes patient wait times
WHAT THEY DID:
To reduce wait times, medical assistants take
patient vitals, a job that licensed practical nurses
used to exclusively handle. The team also huddles
twice daily.
RESULTS:
The team went from an average wait time of
19 minutes to less than 11 minutes.
Labor co-leads: Cindy Agan, SEIU Local 105
and Tanya Ball, UFCW Local 7
Management co-lead: Shannon Martinez, nurse manager
Physician co-lead: Angie Martinez, MD
Read more about the teams work and other successful
practices on the Labor Management website,
www.LMPartnership.org.
FEATURED TEAM: Inpatient Pediatrics, Panorama City Medical Center
No way! Hospital food that kids like?
WHAT THEY ARE DOING:
• Cutting back on wasted food and staff
members’ time by allowing children to
choose their meals from a kid-friendly
nutritional menu.
• Giving kids restaurant-style menus
decorated with smiling giraffes, hippos
and other happy animals.
RESULTS:
Percentage of the parents surveyed who
agreed with the statement, “When my child
felt well enough to eat, the flavor of the food
was satisfactory.”
Labor co-lead: Judith Bowers, RN, UNAC/UHCP
Management co-lead: Shukla Sen, interim department
administrator
Read more about the teams work and other successful
practices on the Labor Management website,
www.LMPartnership.org.
FEATURED TEAM: Pediatrics, South San Francisco
Teamwork gets more kids vaccinated
WHAT THEY ARE DOING:
• Children get injections in the exam room,
rather than in the injection clinic
• Physicians have two versions of the same
vaccine to choose from instead of several
• Medical assistants and physicians huddle
once or twice a day to determine which of
their incoming patients need vaccines.
Medical assistants then have shots ready
for those patients.
RESULTS:
Over nine months’ time, the percentage of
children ages 2 and younger who are
current on their immunizations rose:
Labor co-lead: Steve Levi, medical assistant, SEIU UHW
Management co-lead: Sue Sorensen, pediatric manager
Read more about the teams work and other successful
practices on the Labor Management website,
www.LMPartnership.org.
FEATURED TEAM: Oncology, Redwood City Medical Center
Taking all calls
WHAT THEY DO:
RESULTS:
To boost its low phone service scores,
team members:
MPS scores for overall phone service increased
26.8 percentage points over the last year.
• Route calls from call center directly to the department.
• Wear wireless headsets so staff can answer calls
while away from the main phones.
• Installed a new voicemail system for the department.
Medical assistants review and return calls hourly.
• Corrected phone number listing in the Patient
Member Handbook.
Read more about the teams work and other successful
practices on the Labor Management website,
www.LMPartnership.org.
FEATURED TEAM: General and Plastic Surgery, Fontana Medical Center
Wait times irritating members? Here's a solution
WHAT THEY DO:
To keep patients informed about wait times,
schedulers and receptionists pair up for
one-hour shifts during the predictably busy
times in the department's two clinics (plastic
surgery and general and vascular surgery).
Working together, each pair observes the
waiting room and checks in with patients
who are experiencing delays.
RESULTS:
Positive patient responses for staff
communications for the two clinics (combined)
Read more about the teams work and other successful
practices on the Labor Management website,
www.LMPartnership.org.
FEATURED TEAM: Laboratory, Anaheim Medical Center
Doing blood work in time for morning rounds
WHAT THEY DO:
RESULTS:
To speed up the processing of blood draws:
Between August and November 2010, blood work
was processed by 9 a.m. 93 percent of the time,
up 20 points from when the project started in February
2010.
• Lab assistants pick up blood specimens on the 6th and
7th floors of the hospital at 6 a.m., rather than having a
runner deliver them.
• Lab assistants drop off specimens every half-hour
throughout the day, instead of a runner delivering them.
• Clinical lab scientists from other lab department help
process blood in the morning.
• Clinical lab scientists start work at 6 a.m. instead of
9 a.m. on the weekends.
Read more about the teams work and other successful
practices on the Labor Management website,
www.LMPartnership.org.
FEATURED TEAM: Financial Counselors, Northwest
Easing patients’ financial pain
WHAT THEY DO:
RESULTS:
To respond more quickly to financial aid applicants,
financial counselors at clinics throughout the region
help each other process applications--so if one
counselor is backed up, a counselor with fewer
pending applications will pitch in. Counselors report
workload statuses at weekly huddles, which are
conducted via Sametime on Lotus Notes.
The team reduced the application processing
time from 30 days in February to 10.75 days in
May.
Read more about the teams work and other successful
practices on the Labor Management website,
www.LMPartnership.org.