A few years back, Computrition developed a practical study titled “The Cost of Doing Nothing in Healthcare Food Management Technology”. It has been an invaluable resource for foodservice industry professionals and we’d like to continue sharing the challenging perspective it offers.

As we all know, business decisions entail a cost (i.e. hiring employees, purchasing new equipment, implementing software technology). A factor that weighs heavy on the decision scales is budgetary constraints. In healthcare foodservices, the decision makers – Administrators – are greatly influenced by the amount of profit the foodservice department is contributing to the overall operation.

Here is a synopsis of a typical dilemma: Administration selects a vendor. Vendor drafts a proposal/contract. Everything is reviewed and negotiated. The decision remains idle. The golden question we’d like to propose is whether Administration considered the cost of an idle decision prior to not moving forward (i.e. operating processes manually, continuing with ineffective systems, etc.).

Food for thought – to truly reach a thorough decision, we suggest the evaluation process to include the following critical measures:

1. Return on investment
2. Opportunity loss when comparing multiple options
3. Cost of doing nothing

Typically, the first two are routine measures, but has much thought been given to the third? Foodservice Directors know firsthand what the cost of doing nothing entails, and that is why they are qualified to provide this unique perspective to Administrators during the decision making process. By simply considering the impact of idleness versus focusing solely on the outcome of gain, Administrators will acquire a whole new outlook.

Recently, we’ve taken notice that several of our customers are rising up in the foodservice industry and making an impact. In light of the economic challenges being faced, these leaders – whether individually or operationally – are proving that executing change and upholding quality standards is possible!

Each year the President of the U.S. exclusively awards a handful of organizations with the nation’s prestigious honor – The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Among the select four chosen in 2011 was a Computrition customer, Schneck Medical Center. Schneck met the criterion of excellent performance by exhibiting “numerous advances in clinical outcomes, patient safety enhancements, and organizational and customer service improvements.”

U.S. News & World Report recently issued their list of Best Hospitals 2011-12: the Honor Roll. From the privileged 17 hospitals (out of approximately 5,000 in the nation) that were chosen for their “clinical excellence”, four of them are Computrition customers. The following hospitals demonstrate a “rare blend of breadth and depth” in the healthcare industry: Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, UCSF Medical Center, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and UPMC – University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Once a year, the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association (IFMA) recognizes a select group of foodservice industry leaders from hundreds of qualified candidates to honor with a Silver Plate Award. These professionals represent distinctive contributions across nine segments of foodservice operations. This year, we were pleased to know the following two valued leaders were among the winners of the 2012 IFMA Silver Plate frontrunners – Dan Henroid, MS, RD, Director, Nutrition & Food Services, UCSF Medical Center (for the Healthcare category) and Mary Molt, PhD, RD, LD, Assistant Director, Housing & Dining Services, Kansas State University (for the Colleges & Universities category).

Leading by example and setting the bar high, these foodservice leaders are a source of inspiration for industry peers. We applaud them all for their outstanding achievements.

Top 10 Initiatives

Many hospitals across the nation happen to be members of a large health system that are comprised of several hospitals. Given that fact, not only do hospital administrators want to improve the operation of individual sites, they strive to cohesively advance the overall success of every hospital system-wide. It’s the kind of optimistic challenge that requires a well planned strategy, along with a range of essential initiatives to target. In our evaluation, we have learned the following list to be the existing needs of today’s healthcare environment:

1.    Quality care: Deliver a uniform approach to patient-centered care

2.    Training: Develop the skills of healthcare personnel

3.    Automation: Implement technology that eliminates redundancy and inadequacy

4.   Standardization: Put into operation successful workflows and  processes

5.    Centralization: Organize a central production and/or a consolidated call center

6.    Flexibility: Maintain a shared platform  yet encompass the ability to customize to the unique needs of site-specific scenarios

7.    Integration: Ensure effective synchronization across all information systems

8.    Cost-effectiveness: Reduce overall costs and wastes

9.    Analysis: Easily extract data, compile reports and accurately forecast for successful analysis

10.    Consistency: Reproduce best practices across sites

Given this list of essential initiatives, health systems can look to supportive organizations, such as Premier healthcare alliance, for ways to put into practice performance improvement. An advantage of being a member of such an organization is the opportunity to network with key industry partners. As a supplier of Premier, Computrition is committed to helping health systems achieve performance improvement through healthcare technology. This year our team will be on the road from February to April 2012, attending Premier meetings at major cities in the country. Contact us for further assistance!

As one of Oregon’s most prominent healthcare providers, Legacy Emanuel Medical Center’s Nutrition Services team was ready and eager to undergo a complete renovation in order to continue providing the community with top-notch foodservice. Prior to implementing a comprehensive room service program, the foodservice division had to create a game plan for several components such as floor plan expansion, circular workflow layout, new kitchen equipment, foodservice software technology and staff growth.  Any hospital that has ventured this sort of renovation can agree that each of these components cohesively impact the deployment of such a major undertaking.

The following are 10 noteworthy outcomes that resulted from Legacy Emanuel’s renovation:

1. Ability to accurately track and prepare approximately 1,000 patient meals daily
2. Guarantee meal delivery within 45-minutes
3. Replaced the retherm process with a made-from-scratch meal production
4. Maintain a short-order line that completes orders cooked-to-order , or as Legacy likes to put it “a la minute”
5. Provide unconventional and unique options to the room service program that caters to consumer demands (i.e. – espresso beverages)
6. Offer menu options that feature seasonal dishes with local ingredients
7. Reduced the number of meals conforming to dietary restrictions from 21 to 7
8. Raised foodservice satisfaction scores from 3.6 to 4.3
9. Generate zero plate waste on returned trays
10. Year 1 food cost savings = $200,000!

What’s inspiring about the success of Legacy Emanuel’s transformation is their ability to complete the project in accordance to their targeted 18-month window, within their budgeted goal of $4.5 million, and without disruption of their day-to-day meal service process! For an in-depth look at Legacy Emanuel’s foodservice extreme make-over, please reference the following article from the winter 2011 issue of Focus on Healthcare Foodservice: http://bit.ly/xxeGzQ

Based on recent reports released in September by the American Health Care Association, there are approximately 15,666 certified nursing facilities in the U.S. with a total bed capacity of 1,668,123, of which 1,388,919 patients occupy. Now let’s factor in the total number of patient meals served daily and its plain to see in view of those sizeable figures how foodservice is a major aspect of long term care operations. If long term care facilities aren’t already fostering this area, they will be motivated to start – recent nutritional compliance mandated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service (CMS) is stressing the importance of quality dietary care. Consequently, surveyors are targeting the adequacy of nutritional and quality service standards more stringently and foodservice professionals must be prepared to answer any inquiries.

Considering how food plays a tremendous role in the experience and level of patient satisfaction, it is evident that automation is beneficial especially in the event a long term care facility encounters an allegation. The risk of placing confidence on manual processes can deem serious legal consequences if handwritten records fail to identify accurate information such as likes, dislikes, allergies and special restrictions. With the chances of human error being so high, food costs or patient dissatisfaction is the least of concerns in comparison to other severe outcomes like allergic reactions, and food-borne illnesses, and even fatalities. Canada Restaurant News points out how the age demographic of today’s long term care residents is much older. Consequently, the severity of food-related outcomes is greater due to the frail immune systems of these residents. Additionally, there appears to be a rise in complicated dietary conditions which makes manual processes an even more ineffective method. Another point to consider is the dining preferences of the Baby Boomer generation. For this health-conscious group, the long term care mealtime experience is finely tuned with a room service program that can provide residents with an interactive and safe approach to selecting their own meals. 

All of these supporting factors indicate that foodservice professionals in long term care can make a difference in controlling preventable incidences with the help of automation. As a closing thought, if return on investment is a justification holding back the budgetary gates, rest assured many long term care facilities are reaping the benefits. According to Ed O’Halloran, a food and nutrition professional, Fair Acres Geriatric Center is “… trending 8% reduction in food costs – that is over $200,000” after automating.

We’ve been working hard all year to develop innovative and quality products and services. Delivering consistent customer service is one of our biggest aims, along with keeping up with the pulse of technology and supporting the advancement of our flagship products. Redesigning our website was on the top of our 2011 wish list of “Whatever it Takes” projects. Just in time for the New Year, we are excited to unwrap our new look! With our redesigned website, you can expect many great changes and fresh features that include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Robust interface – offers smoother navigation capabilities. The easier you move around our site, the faster you reach the desired information and the better you attain the latest developments in foodservice technology!
• Organized layout – helps simplify the searching process. The Market Segment Selector on the homepage appropriately directs you to the automated solutions for your niche market needs.
• One-stop shop – provides instant access to wide-ranging resources. For instance, the Learning Center displays an array of practical tools such as demos, case studies, and customer success videos.

We anticipate that existing and prospective customers will find tremendous value in our redesigned website. Stop by, take a look, and explore our site at http://www.computrition.com/.

One, of many, exciting aspects of technology is in the area of interactive multimedia.  The entertainment industry isn’t the only field looking to engage the audience; today’s consumer can find interactive multimedia used just about anywhere they go – schools, restaurants and even hospitals. In fact, something that you may have noticed at any one of those places just listed are digital menu boards. It’s the latest approach to communicating menu information in real time. With database integration capabilities, a live display of information is made instantly. Digital menu boards make it possible for information to be updated easily or customized according to the location of the audience. Wondering how digital menu boards can help enhance your customer’s experience? Here’s a list of ten advantages of digital menu boards that Jeff Levin, Business Development Manager, at Four Winds Interactive provided:

1. Present an interactive display of nutritional information
2. Boost the success of promotional items
3. Quickly and effectively engage the attention of your customers
4. Easily meet requirements  and stay up-to-date with  nutrition guideline updates
5. Entertain your guests and make their wait worthwhile
6. Decrease printing costs
7. Issue immediate price and menu changes
8. Deliver employee training/messaging while the operation is closed
9. Accommodate multiple day-parting of menus
10. Provide additional advertising opportunities

To obtain further information on digital menu boards please reference:  http://bit.ly/ncENvx.

Ever have issues with kitchen tickets getting misplaced or out of order? Are these types of inefficiencies causing a delay in your tray delivery time?

For those of you operating a room service program in healthcare foodservice and seeking improvements in your daily workflow, there’s a solution that is sure to peak your interest. Meet KDS (Kitchen Display System), a feature designed to enhance the tray production and assembly experience.

Relative to the use of the KDS, the process is started when the patient orders a meal. The order is then directly transmitted to the KDS and displayed on a screen for the production staff to view.

What are the tangible benefits? First, staff no longer has to depend solely on a kitchen ticket. Since paper ticket orders have the tendency of getting misplaced or falling, the KDS screens help to decrease chances for errors and mix-up. Additionally, with the use of kitchen production screens the staff can accurately manage the meal preparation and assembly process. Each display unit sequentially organizes orders so that the food is prepared on a first-in-first-out basis. With adequate summary capabilities, a recap of all orders in the queue can be generated to allow the production staff to easily manage multiple amounts of similar orders. At the end of the day, an overall reduction in production time is achieved.

It’s all about patient safety and satisfaction, right? Well that’s exactly what the KDS does. The potential for confusion from orders is reduced and the probability of a customer getting the right food at the right time is increased. Production staff is happy, customers are happy, and you are operating a finely tuned kitchen.

At Computrition, one of the most sought-after amenities offered to customers are the User Conferences hosted by the Account Relationship Management team. For the 2011 season, 13 sessions were held all across the U.S. and Canada at various foodservice sites ranging from hospitals to correction facilities.  The final and most attended User Conference of the year was held last week at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD).

• The Food Service team at LASD is responsible for nourishing approximately 17,000 to 18,000 inmates and managing special requirement needs of all medical diets.
• With 88 cities in the LA County, 42 of them are contracted to LASD for their foodservice needs. The cook-chill process is used to serve nutritionally balanced meals to inmates.
• All of this must be efficiently managed within a food budget of about $27 million.
• Menus have to be approved by Registered Dietitians and the Food Service Division is liable to operate in compliance with Title 15 of the California Administrative Code.

During the LASD User Conference an attendee brought up a very interesting point – “managers don’t hire people with software skills; they hire people with foodservice and culinary experience!” And that’s just one of many reasons that necessitate the need for User Conferences. Here are 5 more:

1. A resourceful event, developed to enhance the users experience of the software and hosted at a site in which the software is successfully operated
2. A unique opportunity for new software users to become more familiar with the software fundamentals and for existing users to discover new features, modules and services available that can boost their productivity and savings
3. Provides software users a chance to engage with our team, directly  communicating questions and offering constructive feedback for future software enhancements based on their experience with the software
4. An intimate and interactive environment to connect with industry peers, share experiences and gain insight of the different ways in which software is utilized at different operations
5. A convenient way to earn Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credits

It isn’t enough to simply implement software. To get your return on investment, ensure that users are administering the software at its fullest potential. For further information regarding Computrition’s User Conferences, please contact: arm@computrition.com.

In reflection of history, we realize the different influences of each era from arts and literature, to religion and science.  There’s no denying that technology is one of the biggest influences of our current era. And with the advancement of technology comes a more informative population. Technology is enhancing many aspects of life, even when it comes to basic things like eating, our most complicated regimen.

While a lot of attention has been directed towards the Baby Boomer generation in recent years, there is another generation that is starting to steal the thunder – the Millennials. A big interest for this group of 18-29 year olds is the search of places to dine and food to eat. Technology is the means that is sourcing this unending quest for information.

A report by the NPD Group concluded that Millennials spent roughly $73 billion dollars on foodservice establishments in 2010. Interestingly, more than half of that amount was attributed to ordering takeout food. This comes as no surprise when considering that four out five American’s own a smartphone and two thirds use their phones for web surfing and downloading content. With the rise of mobile internet access, dining information is readily available via phone applications and web menus.

Likewise, a healthier population of informative consumers will continue to eat out as long as they feel confident about the quality of food and accessibility of information. Taking into account that many of the meals consumed in America is outside of the home, technology has become necessary for everyday things like searching for well-reviewed restaurants or skimming through menus for nutritional content and ingredient lists.

Considering September is food safety month, it’s appropriate to point out that informative food consumption is possible with the help of technology and the prevalence of resources it offers. What ways is technology making a positive impact on your consumption of food?