- Hospitals are Striving for the Absolute Highest Levels of Patient Experience
- Better quality food and service is desired.
- Customer satisfaction is being benchmarked more than before.
- Financial efficiency becomes scrutinized more than ever.
- Chief Patient Experience Officer positions have been created.
- Consultants/coaches are used more often now to help operators modify the culture of the team and remain self-operated.
- Overwhelmed with Work
- In many cases, operators spend the majority of their time doing “just the basics”, such as making sure there are enough employees present to deliver the meals.
- Consequently, many key management functions are suffering, such as.
- Total communication with the team
- Inspiring and motivating the team
- Updating performance standards
- Most importantly, holding team members accountable
- Upshot – frustrated, overworked employees, which compromises morale.
- Suggestions from our coaches to survive and thrive in today’s work environment:
- More education on the subject of:
- How to handle being overwhelmed
- How to prioritize
- Dealing with stress
- How to properly recruit and retain staff
- More education on the subject of:
- Learn how to hardwire the customer service mentality into the culture of a team.
- Room Service in Hospitals
- The most radical trend and change in hospital food service we’ve seen in 40 years.
- Many hospitals have already progressed to Room Service.
- How does it work? – Hospitals are moving away from dated traylines and operations. Instead, they have progressed to a hotel-style Room Service layout complete with hot and cold prep stations and are able to deliver meals “on demand” providing flexibility in dining times and more importantly, more meal choices to the patient. This has caused a dramatic positive impact on the reputation of food service and patient experience.
- Often the overall investment results in a profit center due to the significant savings from decreased food waste.
- Some of our customers have saved millions over the years as a result of implementing Room Service.
- Providing Leadership During Absences or Transitions
The Challenge:
- Personnel change due to termination, promotion, relocation or other reasons.
- Extended leave of absence due to illness or injury.
- Exceeding the bandwidth and capacity of the staff compensating for the vacant position.
- Maintaining the morale and mentality of an overworked staff.
- Sustaining or sometimes developing the positive culture and protocols of the department
Solution:
- Utilize interim staffing of former operators that have experience and training in difficult situations.
- Allow outside assistance to provide cultural engagement and leadership development, which creates a long-term lasting effect.
- C-Store and Retail
- The majority of hospitals offer both retail and patient meals with retail accounting for 60% of the meals.
- C-stores: coffee shops/kiosk and convenience stores are now part of the operation.
- Whether within the existing building or separate building, c-stores help increase revenue and often preferred by on-the-go staff and visitors.
- Many operators are planning to add c-stores or reimage their retail facility
