A free online checklist from Vision Software Technologies can smooth out the bumps in the healthcare food service industry’s most coveted meal delivery system: room service.
The free tool, “Room Service Boot Camp,” helps food service administrators plan, budget, and roll out a room service system, leaving nothing to guesswork. Using a 28-page checklist, users can customize details and timing for a successful room service model.
“Room Service Boot Camp” offers guidance for gauging required changes in patient menus, food production systems, equipment, staffing, process flow, and information technology for room service to succeed. It provides detailed questions and worksheets. “Making a change to your current menu is usually a significant challenge,” says Vision Software Vice President. “The first major issue to address is why. In order to implement a successful program, you will need to present clearly defined objectives and outcomes to your staff, your administrative team, and ancillary area.”
Among reasons for re-vamping meal service are:to increase patient satisfaction, to give patients more control over meal schedules, to improve food quality with just-in-time preparation, to improve patient meal accuracy, to empower employees, and to reduce food costs. At the same time, providers need to address hundreds of details about the conversion in order to ensure compliance with operational objectives that can easily be augmented with informatics solution tools. Before taking a step toward room service, the free tool can help determine if room service will work, what steps an operator can make to customize it, and what kind of management controls are needed to operate it.