How UBTs are getting results Examples of operational success March - September 2011

Inpatient Transport, San Jose Medical Center Transporters Improve Response Times RESULTS: 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 WHAT THEY DID: Moved from a decentralized inpatient transport system to a centralized dispatch system. Read more about the teams work and other successful practices on the Labor Management website,

Physical Therapy/Occupational Therapy, Sunnyside Medical Center, Northwest Squeezing wasted time out of inpatient PT/OT sessions RESULTS:WHAT THEY DID: 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,

Out-patient Pharmacy, Parma, Ohio Ohio UBT improves service time WHAT THEY DID: Developed a customer service survey for technicians to ask members about their experiences and wait times. Services representatives round regularly in the wait area to look for members who may have been waiting a half-hour or longer. RESULTS: From the fourth quarter of 2009 to the third quarter of 2010, Parma Pharmacy improved the following scores: Read more about the teams work and other successful practices on the Labor Management website,

FEATURED TEAM: Ambulatory Surgery Recovery, Moanalua Medical Center, Honolulu Cutting costs, clutter in the OR Read more about the teams work and other successful practices on the Labor Management website, Labor co-lead: Avis Yasumura, RN, Hawaii Nurses Association, OPEIU Local 50 Management co-lead: Janet Lundberg, RN, procedural sedation manager RESULTS: The team saved nearly $10,000 per month by reducing duplicate and overstocked supplies for medical center’s operating room. 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.

FEATURED TEAM: Internal Medicine, Hidden Lake Medical Office, Colorado New division of labor slashes patient wait times Read more about the teams work and other successful practices on the Labor Management website, 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 RESULTS: The team went from an average wait time of 19 minutes to less than 11 minutes. 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.

FEATURED TEAM: Inpatient Pediatrics, Panorama City Medical Center No way! Hospital food that kids like? Read more about the teams work and other successful practices on the Labor Management website, Labor co-lead: Judith Bowers, RN, UNAC/UHCP Management co-lead: Shukla Sen, interim department administrator 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.” 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.

FEATURED TEAM: Pediatrics, South San Francisco Teamwork gets more kids vaccinated Read more about the teams work and other successful practices on the Labor Management website, Labor co-lead: Steve Levi, medical assistant, SEIU UHW Management co-lead: Sue Sorensen, pediatric manager RESULTS: Over nine months’ time, the percentage of children ages 2 and younger who are current on their immunizations rose: 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.

FEATURED TEAM: Oncology, Redwood City Medical Center Taking all calls RESULTS: MPS scores for overall phone service increased 26.8 percentage points over the last year. WHAT THEY DO: To boost its low phone service scores, team members: Read more about the teams work and other successful practices on the Labor Management website, 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 voic system for the department. Medical assistants review and return calls hourly. Corrected phone number listing in the Patient Member Handbook.

FEATURED TEAM: General and Plastic Surgery, Fontana Medical Center Wait times irritating members? Here's a solution RESULTS: Positive patient responses for staff communications for the two clinics (combined) 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. Read more about the teams work and other successful practices on the Labor Management website,

FEATURED TEAM: Laboratory, Anaheim Medical Center Doing blood work in time for morning rounds RESULTS: 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 WHAT THEY DO: To speed up the processing of blood draws: Read more about the teams work and other successful practices on the Labor Management website, 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.

FEATURED TEAM: Financial Counselors, Northwest Easing patients’ financial pain RESULTS: The team reduced the application processing time from 30 days in February to days in May. WHAT THEY DO: 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. Read more about the teams work and other successful practices on the Labor Management website,