Choosing food service software for your hospital is a significant investment. But accurately quantifying the costs is no small feat. What you see on your spreadsheet and the practical realities don’t always match. Find out how to avoid hidden costs and back-end surprises when selecting your software solution.
In this series, we’ll tour commonplace surprises that come back to bite food service administrators—and tell you how to avoid them.
Data entry – oops!
Once you calculate a payback window on your food service software investment and your organization commits the funds, the clock is ticking. Pressure is on to set up your databases of ingredients, recipes, and menus to begin leveraging the power of automation.
What if you find that data entry is confusing or downright clunky? What if through lack of training and support you set up your databases incorrectly—and later have to re-do your work? What if your staff don’t have time to get the job done?
A few things to look for to ensure smooth database set-up are:
- Well-designed software with user-friendly data entry features.
- First-rate training to onboard your team painlessly.
- The ability to tap into existing databases so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.
- Optional data entry support services. For many operators, these can pay off.
Missed software implementation deadlines
Is your software vendor committed to a sale—or to your success? A common back-end surprise is the painful discovery that it was all about sales quotas, not service. Before selecting a food service software vendor for your healthcare group, it’s a good idea to check track records. After the sale, then what?
Things to look for:
- A team that knows the hospital food service ropes. Been there. Done that.
- Support personnel who want to see your operation advance quality, safety, and patient satisfaction.
- Implementation planners who’ll help you construct a viable food service software implementation schedule – and keep it on track.
- Professionals who will dive into the trenches when you need them to and make sure all systems are a go.
All of these factors help ensure your software implementation happens when you need it to. You can begin reaping your budget savings as scheduled.
What back-end surprises do you want to avoid?