Improve Patient Satisfaction Through Foodservice

Improve Patient Satisfaction Through Foodservice

In the healthcare industry, operators are constantly expected to improve patient satisfaction through foodservice for several reasons, including:

  • Quality of care: Patient satisfaction surveys provide objective feedback that operators can analyze to ensure they meet healthcare standards. By making data-driven decisions, operators can pinpoint opportunities for improvement and prevent issues like malnutrition.
  • Reputation and trust: High satisfaction scores reflect well on a hospital, establishing it as a reliable provider within the community. Furthermore, a highly ranked hospital gains a competitive advantage, which is crucial among numerous multi-site health systems.
  • Financial incentives: Patient satisfaction scores can influence many reimbursement decisions regarding funding levels, thereby affecting a hospital’s revenue.

However, patients are likely uncomfortable or in pain, and many things are out of their control. With staffing shortages and limited budgets, how can operators uphold the patient experience while supporting caregivers?

Food and Nutrition Services

Food lives at the heart of many cultures, and nutrition is a vital aspect of one’s health, especially during recovery. Even if options are limited by restrictions, the ability to choose can give patients some control in an uncertain environment. A comforting meal tailored to an individual’s needs and preferences can significantly improve patient satisfaction through foodservice.

Consequently, food and nutrition services face immense pressure to meet high standards while doing more with less. Ongoing labor challenges in healthcare foodservice equate to fewer team members, higher workloads, and rapid burnout. Therefore, it is imperative to incorporate measures supporting employee retention and morale.

A person using a tablet to improve patient satisfaction through foodservice

Working Smarter

When it comes to healthcare foodservice, satisfaction boils down to a few key elements:

  • Standards: Was the meal appropriately prepared? Did the kitchen account for allergies, restrictions, and preferences?
  • Efficiency: Did the meal follow the journey from ordering to production to delivery in a reasonable amount of time?
  • Service: Was the tray served with care and hospitality in mind?

Consistently meeting these expectations can be challenging, but technology can aid all levels of hospital foodservice.

Automating the patient meal ordering experience is one particular way that operators can improve patient satisfaction through foodservice. Providing patients with various ordering options will help them feel empowered to make their meal selections. For example:

  • Like popular food ordering apps, mobile self-ordering offers convenience and independence. Reducing the need for supervision allows staff to reallocate their time elsewhere.
  • A call center centralizes meal orders and provides an element of hotel room service. Moreover, operators can expand their hiring pool to include remote workers.
  • When patients prefer direct assistance, bedside tablets are an excellent way to maximize caregivers’ mobility and efficiency. With dynamic technology, staff can focus less on data entry and more on human interaction.

Additionally, prominent functionalities, such as nutrient limits, can prove beneficial when placing meal orders. By setting such limits, staff can maintain awareness of restrictions (e.g., low sodium, renal, etc.). Caregivers can then focus more of their efforts on personal interactions, contributing to higher quality of care.

Patient safety and satisfaction go hand-in-hand. Tray tracking software can help staff verify that they’re delivering the proper meal to the right patient. Therefore, they can avoid conflicts like accidentally feeding an NPO patient or triggering allergies. Operators can then analyze data to ensure optimal performance at all assembly, delivery, and pickup stages, which can impact the patient’s experience.

Partnership

Proper utilization of technology drives operational success and influences patient satisfaction. At Computrition, many of our team members had prior experience in healthcare and foodservice, and some were even customers! Equipped with expertise, we partner with customers to achieve goals.

Contact us today to learn how Computrition’s software can automate your processes and elevate your foodservice operations. Together, we can improve patient satisfaction through foodservice.