1. What are teams working on?
An analysis of UBT project activity
J. Peter Nixon – Director of Analytics
Office of Labor Management Partnership – Kaiser Permanente
July 2013

2. Summary findings
UBT projects are distributed across all four points of the Value Compass
Service, efficiency/cost reduction and prevention/disease management are the three largest categories overall
NCAL, SCAL, NW and MAS have a larger share of projects dedicated to efficiency and affordability than do other regions
GA, MAS and OH each have a larger share of their projects dedicated to prevention and disease management
Unit-based teams are the engine for frontline performance and innovation at Kaiser Permanente.
A July 2013 review by the Office of Labor Management Partnership showed what types of performance improvement projects teams have focused on across KP, and how these project areas differ across regions.
Service and Affordability (identified as efficiency/cost reduction projects) are the largest focus areas, followed by prevention/disease management (Quality)

3. What are teams working on?
Unit-based teams launched more than 3,700 performance improvement projects in the first half of 2013, well distributed across all four points of the Value Compass ̶ Service, Quality, Affordability and Best Place to Work.
Service remains the largest single focus area for UBTs, representing 28 percent of UBT projects across Kaiser Permanente as of June 30, 2013 (more than 1,000 service improvement projects launched from January to June 2013).
Affordability is getting increasing attention, with efficiency and cost reduction projects growing by 6 percentage points since January, to 26 percent of all projects (about 965 projects launched).

4. Select focus areas by region
Distribution of projects in selected focus areas, by region CO GA HI
MAS
NCAL NW OH
SCAL
Service
45%
32%
15%
23%
24%
34%
58%
Efficiency/ Cost Reduction
14%
12% 7%
31%
26%
27% 8%
Prevention/ Disease Management 5% 4% 6% 9%
This table shows the distribution of projects for the three largest focus areas overall, but it doesn’t tell the whole story.
For instance, Hawaii lags the other regions in the three project areas shown ̶ but an impressive 24 percent of all projects in the region focus on patient safety, vs. an average of 6 percent of projects across all of KP.