Your patients have very little say so on any part of their visit to your facility. It is an environment that’s foreign and often scary to their senses. Food, the major service you provide, is the one experience during a patient’s stay that can actually satisfy and warm their senses. Room Service allows the patient to control a very critical measuring stick of their stay that affects the facilities overall satisfaction scores. It caters your menu fare to their individual tastes and allows them to decide the most appropriate time to enjoy their meal. Selections can range from comfort food favorites to “Build Your Own” Sandwiches from the grille or deli. Based on diagnosis, the Physicians will decide the patient’s diet order, which could include significant food restrictions. Room service allows the patient to make selections that sound good to them based on these restrictions. Restricted diets will be better accepted and the patient will appreciate you for catering to their needs.
Room Service Can Stimulate Growth for your Operation.
Do your employees need a morale boost? Room service involves your staff in the design process of the system. It will focus their talents in new ways, from cooking skills to serving styles… it all changes. Like any change there will be challenges. Your long-practiced system of meal service will be completely revised. A well-built strategy, constant communication, and consistent feedback will calm your associate’s anxieties.
Don’t forget to include nursing in the build process as they are your biggest bedside cheerleaders. These new dynamics in patient and nursing interaction with your staff will produce amazing relationships and stimulate quality and efficiency.
How does Room Service Software play a role in overall satisfaction?
A comprehensive software system is critical in your decision to implement a successful room service program. The software you choose should:
- benefit your diet office by increasing productivity
- provide support for patient safety
- enhance your meal selection process
- simplify and control your production inventory, and recipes
- provide for clinically mandated pathways
- allow you to maintain your budget
- not require a capital investment at the start
- report on all of your cost accounting needs
What is your ROI with Room Service?
Cost reduction seems to be the focus these days, while still maintaining quality. As a result of the patients ordering exactly what they want, when they want it, room service will improve your cost savings from less waste and a reduction of replacement trays. Decreased costs will occur as the effect of a good patient focused foodservice.
It is a big challenge meeting the needs of the most important aspect of your service – your patients. Room Service reduces that challenge by creating instant Patient Satisfaction that pays it forward to not only the patients and family you serve, but to your associates and administrators as well.
by Tracy Vucinic, Regional Support Manager, Vision Software