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The VST System

Patient Menu Management Tool Kit:
MOBILE MENU TOOL (PDA)
Most acute care hospitals allow patients to select the items that they would like to eat from a menu of choices served each day. The conventional method of patient selection uses a paper menu that is delivered to the patient each morning. The patient makes selections by checking the desired items (usually for the next day) on the paper menu, which is then retrieved and returned to the diet office for processing. If an automated diet office system is used, the patient's menu selections are input into a computer program through keyboard entry.

This decades-old process of patient menu selection is fraught with inefficiencies and high costs, and it engenders low patient satisfaction scores. The logistics associated with conventional paper menu distribution and retrieval require patients to make menu selections as much as five meals in advance of food delivery, leading to diet order conflicts and low patient satisfaction scores. VST Mobile Menus employ portable technology to overcome the causes of patient dissatisfaction while reducing costs and increasing staff productivity. The VST Mobile Menu Tool uses standard Personal Data Assistant (PDA) equipment with sophisticated data transfer protocols to give a nutrition services worker the ability to gather patient menu selections at the bedside. This technology manages all of the relevant patient and menu information in a compact device, allowing for accurate and timely input of the patient selections through direct communication with the patient. This "face-to-face" interaction is, in itself, a major contributor to improved satisfaction scores.

Process
The VST Mobile Patient Menu Selection Tool allows nutrition services personnel to select and download patient information by specific nursing station. Multiple nursing stations can be selected, as well as menu information for as many as seven days in advance.

Once at the patient bedside, the nutrition service worker can select the desired patient from the PDA screen, choose the appropriate date and meal, and begin the menu selection process.

The menu selections, specifically tailored for the patient to consider diet order and individual restrictions, will appear on the PDA screen by menu category (entrees, deserts, beverages, etc.). Virtually any menu style can be accommodated (e.g., cycle menu, restaurant style menu, packaged meals, etc.). The user can select menu choices from a specific category, choose the number of servings and the portion size (if different from the preset defaults) and either move to the next category or select a specific category in order to continue the selection process. "Write-in" items can also be entered into the device as per the department policy.

If a patient is prescribed a diet that requires adherence to a diabetic exchange pattern or if carbohydrate counting is used, the operator can view a dynamic comparison of the values of the choices made relative to the pattern/restrictions. Corrections can be made at the bedside, assuring that the patient will receive the items selected and that those selections meet the requirements of his diet without further review by clinicians. The user can override the pattern restrictions if desired.

The programs also allow "auto-generation" of full meals, tailored to the patient's diet and individual restrictions, if the menu collection procedure is used to request only partial meal selections from the patient (e.g., entree and beverage only). This feature reduces the time spent with each patient and the corresponding staffing requirement.

Menu selections for guests of the patient can also be input into the device. Multiple guest trays for any meal, identified by guest name, can be entered and processed appropriately. The software allows for individual item selections for each guest, or a "house" meal can be chosen. A tray card for the guest tray(s) will be generated with that of the patient for the required meal(s). If desired, the cost of the guest tray(s) will be charged to the patient and reported through standard VST suite reporting processes.

Features
VST Mobile Patient Menu Selection Tool features include:

• The ability to collect patient menu selections at the bedside for the day, for a single meal, or for two of the three meals served in a day… up to seven days in advance.
• The ability to input "write-in" items.
• The ability to dynamically calculate and display a comparison of menu items selected to carbohydrate counts and exchanges.
• The ability to input guest tray selections.
• The ability to "auto-generate" a full meal if only partial selections are entered. This abbreviated process achieves desirable outcomes for both the patient and the department by combining personal preferences with limited selections while reducing menu selection collection to a minimum.
• The ability to download recent patient transactions only, informing menu collection personnel of patient changes by exception.

Benefits
Increased patient satisfaction. Use of the VST Mobile Patient Menu Selection Tool increases patient satisfaction through personal dialogue with the patient regarding menu selections, and through increased accuracy of delivered items.

Increased staff productivity. Inefficient delivery and retrieval of paper menus, paper handling, and/or input of selections in an office environment are replaced by one-on-one activity at the patient bedside. Patient-related activities are moved from the diet office to the point-of-care.

Reduced costs. The cost of purchasing, storing, and printing of paper menus is eliminated.

Print information from this page plus details on the rest of the Patient Menu Management Tool Kit:

For more information, please call 724.452.8794, send e-mail to info@vstech.com, or contact us online.
Vision Software Technologies, Inc.