Hospitals nationwide are not only changing the kinds of foods they serve — trending toward greater emphasis on nutrition and environmental sustainability — but also how they are serving it — with more facilities adopting hotel-style room service menus. And what is the motivation for this culinary movement? According to an article from Kaiser Health News, it all comes down to patient satisfaction and how that translates into more revenue for the healthcare providers. The article also cites the savings that can be gained by allowing patients to order their meals room-service style. One hospital saw food costs fall by $400,000 in the first year of its new delivery system based on eliminating waste.
There’s no question that people do make choices about their healthcare now, and not just about the clinical outcomes. Clearly, that’s primary, but they’re also looking for the rest of the package that goes with it, and food is a part of it.
Nutrition plays a vital role in improving the patient’s outcome. In the Uk, a recent study found that malnutrition-related deaths are up by 18% in the last year.
2009 dept. Of Health Guidelines – Food and Nutritional Care in hospitals found that:
Up to 11% of patients are malnourished on admission and almost one-third of previously well-nourished patients deteriorated during their hospital stay. Undernourished patients are three times more likely to die and are likely to remain in the hospital twice as long as well-nourished patients.
Technology can assist caterers by providing first-class food service for their patients and improve the accuracy and maintenance of their patient food records and reports.
The nutritional well being of a patient is everyone’s responsibility and by changing to a digital solution like SERVAL issues like these can be made a thing of the past.
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