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STAFF & PATIENT
SATISFACTION

Automation Impacts the Employee and
Patient Dining Experience

While the hospital food and nutrition services (FNS) department’s core responsibility is to nourish patients and ensure their satisfaction, non-patients are also an essential segment in the healthcare environment. As FNS departments consider ways to empower staff and improve patient satisfaction scores, they must factor in accuracy, accountability, and safety.

Relative to the patient population, a positive hospital experience can and often does improve patient satisfaction scores. Since patient satisfaction scores are tied to hospital reimbursements, it is important to provide quality care consistently. For staff specifically, their motivation directly contributes to operational efficiency and enhances the overall foodservice atmosphere for all patients. Additionally, studies show that higher patient satisfaction levels are typically achieved at facilities with more positive work environments for their staff.

Patient nutrition personnel are constantly looking for ways to provide the best patient dining experience with a focus on patient-centered care. Likewise, onsite retail services are always exploring ways to nurture staff better. For that reason, implementing technology that addresses the needs of both patients and non-patients is crucial for enhancing hospital-wide human satisfaction.

Hospitals need to be equipped with food safety measures to reduce the risk of human errors and food allergy reactions, impacting patient experience surveys. Features like an electronic patient cardex and automatic substitutions of appropriate menu items, ensure staff doesn’t serve patients any food they dislike, are allergic to, or are inappropriate for their diet.

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Our satisfaction with meal services has doubled, at one of our hospitals it went from 35 to 90 percentile satisfaction score, and that’s Press Ganey.

HONORHEALTH

Tray InMotion facilitates tracking of tray delivery to ensure that patient trays are delivered timely. Data can also be used to monitor and coach employees.

INTERMOUNTAIN HEALTHCARE

54% of healthcare executives report patient experience and satisfaction as one of their top three priorities.

JOURNAL OF THE ACADEMY OF NUTRITION AND DIETETICS

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When it comes to managing the distribution of meals, automating the tray delivery process is instrumental in preventing inaccurate tray deliveries and shielding patients from unforeseen harm. Personalizing the patient experience with a room service program or patient self-ordering technology gives patients the flexibility to choose what they’d like to eat within their diet and decide when they want to eat it.

With the real-time data that automation also provides for staff productivity, the FNS department can increase accountability, allowing staff and management to improve patient care delivery cooperatively. Not to mention, offering staff healthy eating programs, web menus, nutrition labeling, and customer loyalty programs encourages them to make safe and healthy meal choices on-site, and even allows them to receive an incentive!