1. What Unit-Based Teams Are Working On
And How They Are Getting Results
January 2013

2. What Teams Are Working On
UBT Project Improvement Focus Areas
More than 3,500 unit-based teams are in place across Kaiser Permanente, undertaking performance improvement projects to better serve KP members and patients.
UBTs launched close to 6,000 improvement projects in These projects fell into several categories, according to the member- and patient-centered goals of their regions or departments.
Service remains the leading focus for UBT performance improvement work, but efficiency and cost reduction work has grown rapidly and was the second-largest area at year-end 2012.
Efficiency/cost reduction is second largest category

3. High-Level Teams Use “Waste Tools”
Percent of UBTs Using Waste Tools by Performance Level
(Year-end 2012)
22%
13%
The top-performing teams—those rated Level 5 on the UBT Path to Performance—have made the greatest use of advanced performance- improvement tools, including “waste tools.”
Waste tools, such as process mapping, are performance-improvement techniques used to identify and eliminate steps in a process that do not add value to KP members and patients.
These waste-reduction techniques apply not only to efficiency and cost-reduction projects, but also to service and quality improvement efforts such as reducing wait time, improving turn-around times and increasing access to preventive care.
These trends reinforce the importance of supporting teams on the Path to Performance, because high-performing teams have greater mastery of tools that can improve quality, service and affordability of care for KP members.
10%
10% 3%