Telling Our Story

I have worked for Kaiser for over 20 years now and have been a KP Member for 31 years.  I can say in all honestly we haven't always done a great job of telling OUR KP story and, to be quite frank, there were times when we didn't have a great story to tell.  I believe stories are the most effective vehicle to drive the heart of a message to the heart of an audience.  A good story will inspire people to action or conjure up an emotional connection that leaves a lasting impression on the listener.  I'm so proud to say the tides have turned and not only do we have one hell of an amazing story to tell, we are learning how to tell it. 

Kaiser Permanente not only tells our story from on organizational and marketing perspective, like through our Thrive ads, but we have engaged patient's to share THEIR KP story on our new KP CARE STORIES video blog.  In about a month or so, we will start showing videos in our waiting rooms that have our patient's, like Dale Gordon and Mary Gonzales, sharing their stories.  Think about someone waiting in the pharmacy to pick up their prescription, holding on to this colon cancer screening kit their doctors medical assistant just gave them.  The dread of having to "scoop some poop" to complete the test or even the thought of just tossing the kit out "because there is no way I'm going to scoop poop" may be weighing on their minds and then... a video of Dale Gordon telling his emotional story of how that one little (admittedly uncomfortable) test saved his life.  That patient goes home determined to complete the test. Now that is a power of story persuasion.

This morning, I read an Ideabook blog by Tim Ho that "drove the heart of message to the heart of an audience".  Tim's blog yanked on my heart strings and filled me with pride for the company we work for, the great people who come together to care for our members, and for the lives we save.  Here's a quote from Tim's blog that I hope will make you curious enough to subscribe to his blog like I do!

"That's funny," I thought, "I didn't know that this patient had colon cancer."  I opened his chart and went on a journey to find out what happened.  I'd like to share my journey with you and hope that it helps you understand why we are here at Kaiser Permanente and why we can do more together in this crazy, complex system than we can ever do on our own. 

Thanks Tim for taking the time to share your daily blogs.  KP should be honored to have you here to help share our story. 

Google This... Proactive Care POE

 

I have to admit I am a self professed GOOGLE FREAK. I love to Google everything, especially random useless stuff.  One time I was driving through a back road in Alabama with my brother-in-law after going to my nephews college graduation and we stumbled along about 2 full miles of fence posts that had baseball hats stapled to them.  I found a blog about the mystery of the hats, but no one really has any explanation of where they came from.  Every now and then when I'm trying to impress my kids with more random useless information, I Google "Proactive Office Encounter" or "P.O.E". to see what hits I get.  They were pretty surprised the first time they saw my name attached to a write up on the Internet.  It was like all of the sudden I was someone important.  What never ceases to surprise ME is how many publications we have had over the past couple years on our Proactive Office Encounter program.  So many, that you can actually search for POE as an acronym and FIND IT! 

Here are a few postings if you are interested in checking them out, or better yet, Google them yourself just for fun :-)

How Physicians Are Embracing Preventative Care

Proactive Office Encounter - One Step Ahead: Optimal Integrated Care for Every Patient Encounter

Case Study: Proactive Office Encounter

Better Care through Coordinated Teams and Health Information Technology

Proactive Office Encounter Systematically Identifies and Addresses Preventive and Chronic Care Needs at Every Primary Care and Specialty Visit

Heck YES!!! Walking Counts!!!

Like Taylor Swift writing about a bad break up, I feel the need to blog about something that seems to me to be an injustice.  I received a question, almost in the form of a plea, from a workflow consultant who needed help responding to a dilemma posed by a medical assistant.  The medical assistant is responsible for asking patient's about their physical activity level, or as KP HealthConnect labels it "Exercise Activity", is confused about what to document because the provider she supports has instructed her to enter a "0" if the patient states the exercise activity was "Walking".  I want to say that her doctor is probably just thinking that walking in general doesn't raise your heart rate enough to count as exercise, but why would KP have made it an option amoung the list of 50 plus exercise activities?

Now... Maybe my gut reaction is taking over here and I'm thinking too much like a patient, but if my provider told me that my walking didn't count I would be disheartened, upset, and frankly... irate.  

If this thinking is true, then what is the point of our Every Body Walk campaign and why did we build a Rose Parade Float encouraging people to walk?

If walking doesn't count, then why would George Halvorson create a 5 minute video discussing the benefits of walking just 30 minutes a day?

Why would Dr. Sallis encourage people to go out and exercise 30 minutes a day 5 days a week?

If walking doesn't count then why would we dedicate a 80 foot long interactive walking wall at our Center for Total Health in Washington DC?

From our Every Body Walks website...

Walking is a low-impact exercise accessible to just about everybody. It's safe, simple, and doesn’t cost anything. George Halvorson, Chairman & CEO of Kaiser Permanente, explains the numerous health benefits of a regular walking regime: reduced risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and other chronic diseases. Physical activity need not be strenuous for an individual to reap significant health benefits; just 30 minutes a day (or two 15 minute sessions) of brisk walking will do the trick. 

If walking doesn't count then why would Dr. Mike Moreno create a Walk With Your Doc program to encourage his patient's to exercise.

On a personal note, here is how walking has impacted my life.

Back in June of 2011, my fasting glucose came back indicating I had pre-Diabetes. At the time I was also suffering from insomnia, fibromyalgia, chronic migraines, asthma, weight issues, and if I'm being totally honest, depression. I was a mess, I know. I decided to take control of my health issues. Going to the gym isn't always easy because of my work schedule, but throwing on a pair of sneakers and walking whenever I had a free moment in-between meetings made exercise completely accessible. There are days when I only walk 15 minutes and there are days when I walk 6-10 miles. I would be heart broken if my doctor told me that my efforts didn't matter. Walking for me has made a significant difference in health and mental well-being. My insomnia is gone, I have signifcantly fewer fibromyalgia flare ups, the mood and spirits have brightened, my migraines have decreased significantly, and my fasting blood sugar is now at a healthy level.

In my book... I say "Heck YES... Walking counts!  In fact... I'm going to have to go for a walk now just to simmer down.