Bonus Points

Practical solutions to operational challenges key to improved customer satisfaction

By Margaret Sheridan, Senior Editor -- Restaurants & Institutions, 8/15/2004

Ideas that increase healthcare-foodservice customer satisfaction and profitability often require ingenuity more than cash.

Emory Hospitals in Atlanta is not yet ready for the transition to room service. Yet initiatives by foodservice employees to improve service by focusing on details resulted in higher satisfaction from patients, nursing and staff, says Lynne Ometer, director, food and nutrition services.

Her department’s team effort made waves across the Emory locations. Foodservice emphasized points such as whether or not patients received the correct tray and whether it arrived in a timely fashion with food attractively presented. Additionally, an accountability system was created on each floor, which improved foodservice’s relationship with the nursing staff. “Their perception of foodservice can influence what a patient feels,” Ometer says of the nurses.

Two retail outlets at UCLA Medical Center contributed to a total of $7.8 million in annual retail sales last year, a 5% increase over 2002.

When Ohio State University Medical Center in Columbus last year introduced handheld menu ordering, its value as a social conduit was an unexpected byproduct. Today, as many as 500 patients use it to order meals from their beds, after conversations with aides who introduce specials and make suggestions.

Despite the system’s user-friendly efficiencies, patients often forget to order an after-dinner coffee or extra lemon for tea. Such oversights kept 30 aides on the run. “They’d go back and forth from patient rooms to kitchen for a packet of sugar or ketchup,” says Julie Jones, associate director of nutrition services. “It’s time-consuming and not a good use of resources.”

Condiment carts solved the problem. The department purchased 10 three-shelf trolleys, one for each floor. Parked in a galley, each is stocked and replenished with 15 items, including beverages. The convenience and increased efficiency for aides reduced frustration and employee fatigue. It also fostered interaction. “Patients liked having a second visit from the aides. It also gave us an opportunity to check if everything with the meal was satisfactory,” says Jones.

Getting Connected
Rather than plead for funds or go without new products at retail, Guy Scimenes, assistant director of foodservice at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, turns to vendors for help.

Ethnic foods, such as miso-based seafood soup, boost profits at UCLA Medical Center.

“I don’t lay out cash,” he says. Instead Scimenes offers retailers opportunities to market their foods and services. Vendors welcome his business. Annual food purchases for the fiscal year ended in June totaled $5.8 million and retail sales were $7.8 million, an increase of 5% over last year. About 70% of revenue comes from students, staff and hospital administration, not patients. “I realize customers don’t have to come here to eat. There are plenty of foodservice operations in the neighborhood and on campus.’’ It’s the convenient location and the menu variety that spur return business.

When a Thai restaurant in nearby Hollywood got rave reviews, he invited its chef and owner to present a food station in a retail venue. Customers enjoyed it, the restaurateur drew business and foodservice received 35% of the station’s sales. When Scimenes contacted a sushi operator for product, the operator also provided $10,000 for a refrigerated display case, and then added a chef to do on-site production.

Five years ago, produce and equipment vendors provided $30,000 for a salad bar. A soup station opened two years ago after a $10,000 investment from a products distributor. The new microwave oven in the kosher station is a gesture from a distributor. “The best part is vendors will supply food, uniforms and labor,” says Scimenes.

Wheel and Deal
Pampering stimulates appetites at Via Christi Regional Medical Center in Witchita, Kan. Foodservice carts with breakfast choices move through the oncology ward. Cancer patients, their appetites unpredictable due to treatment, respond to seeing foods or listening to suggestions by staff. The carts also offer shakes, ice cream and fruit smoothies to patients in pediatrics and on other floors in the afternoon.

A new debit-card system accounts for 60% of transactions at New Hanover Regional Medical Center.

Using hosts and cart service does more than connect faces and names of patients with staff, says Director of Nutritional Services Patti Dollarhide. It personalizes the one-on-one relationship and gives staff the opportunity to monitor appetites and check preferences for lunch and dinner.

Cycle of Approval
Patient meal satisfaction is gauged daily at New Hanover Regional Medical Center, Wilmington, N.C. Though the hospital distributes satisfaction surveys and includes exit phone calls, foodservice created its own comment cards, distributed and collected daily, and discussed at the 2 p.m. managers meeting, says Donald Printy, food services manager.

“We go over menu items, customer preferences, temperature of foods and delivery problems. That way, we can correct what went wrong that day.” Since foodservice introduced an eight-day cycle menu in October, patients, especially long-term stays, appreciate the variety. So do employees. Jokes about “If it’s Wednesday, it’s beef tips” are history. The eight-day cycle turned out to be an employee morale booster, says Printy.

Spotlight on Food
In her newly assumed role as president of Washington, D.C.-based National Society for Healthcare Food Service Management, Patti Dollarhide takes initiatives on leadership fostered by her predecessor, Lynne Ometer, and extends them to culinary leadership. “We’re about food, so why not recognize great food, and the hospitals that produce it?’’ says the director of nutrition services at Via Christi Regional Medical Center in Wichita, Kan.

Watch for more programs in culinary competitions, menu management, vendor relationships and purchasing, chef recruitment, customer loyalty, food presentation, culinary trends and service training. There will be more emphasis on education initiatives promoting leadership skills, and collaboration with professional organizations such as the National Association of College & University Food Services on vendor relationships, technology and benchmarking.

Global Resources
Need ideas? Ask employees. That’s how International Corner, a display-cooking station at UCLA Medical Center, started five years ago. The 37-person cooking staff represents 25 nationalities, says Executive Chef Mark Dyball. They often talk about their native cuisines, debating which is best.

One idea from an Indonesian-born sous-chef puts the rich culinary culture to best advantage. Edith Makonda suggested rotating one ethnic dish, made by an employee, every day. She volunteered her cooking and managerial talents to schedule the dish and cook. Her specialty—soups—extends to her knowledge of curries. In fact, curry rotates on Tuesdays to include styles from Thailand, Malaysia, Burma, Sri Lanka and Singapore. Friday brings her Nikki’s Bowl, a miso-based soup with protein (chicken, tofu, salmon, fish balls, shrimp or crab) and a heap of noodles. The bowl sells for $4.99 with a beverage. Food costs run $1.50. She sells 150 orders on average.

On Thursday, Sous-chef Miguel Carrillo creates flautas, soft-shell tacos, sopes, tortas and tamales of his native Mexico. All items, except tamales, are made on premises, says Dyball. “The soft-shell tacos are our biggest seller, between 270 and 300 portions.’’

British-born Dyball gets into the act once a month with something English, usually his mother’s bread-and-butter pudding with brandy-cream sauce. “If I miss a month, I hear about it.’’