Deliver Quality Healthcare Foodservice That Makes a Difference

When we think about the important factors of healthcare, we typically consider clinical care, skilled surgeons, bedside manners, and other medically-driven ideas. While these are all essential, there’s another aspect of care that can be equally vital – quality healthcare foodservice.

Food and beverage play an important role in healthcare for two main reasons. First, nourishment is a critical component of many treatment plans, contributing to the overall wellness of patients in hospitals and residents in long-term care communities. For healthcare providers, the second reason is that foodservice often ranks as a top factor in patient satisfaction ratings, including quiet room service delivery of meals.

Before we get into the details of high-quality food delivery to patient rooms, let’s discuss why it’s important and why satisfaction ratings mean more than just reviews and stars. The reality is that hospitals and other healthcare providers can receive significant reimbursements based on patient ratings. These ratings are influenced by the quality of the food provided.

The Challenges to Quality Healthcare Foodservice and Patient Satisfaction

As one might expect, food quality has a large influence on patient satisfaction. To create a quality healthcare foodservice program, meals should adhere to quality standards that don’t compromise nutritional value. But the meal quality isn’t the only factor.

Staff can be just as important as the food itself, particularly in healthcare operations like senior living and long-term care communities where interaction and socialization are so important. Today, in a landscape of labor shortages and burnout largely driven by the pandemic, it can be an uphill battle to find staff that can contribute to patient well-being. These are enormous challenges for healthcare foodservice directors, who are now turning to innovations in foodservice equipment and supplies to help mitigate these concerns.

Now, consider an additional trend in quality healthcare foodservice delivery. Healthcare foodservice programs are becoming more and more chef-driven. Great care goes into sourcing local ingredients, and chefs devise menus with quality and variety in mind. In many cases, quality is created in the kitchen, and the issue becomes preserving it en route to the patient’s bedside.

Carter-Hoffmann – Healthcare Foodservice Delivery Options That Preserve Quality

If getting high-quality foods from the kitchen to the patient’s bedside is a challenge for directors and staff, making that task as easy as possible is important. Hospitality Series Performance Tray Delivery and Room Service Carts from Carter-Hoffmann can be a valuable asset to meet these goals.

With ultra-quiet sound-dampening features like quiet caster pads, moving food through hallways and into patient rooms isn’t invasive. The reduction in noise reduces disruptions to other patients within the facility. At the same time, Carter-Hoffmann’s durable designs will protect delivery carts – and the walls within the facility – eliminating many maintenance hassles. Ultimately, quality healthcare foodservice is the goal, and the right tray delivery systems can make that task easier for staff.

For more healthcare solutions and trends, please visit the comprehensive Middleby Healthcare Foodservice page to learn more.

Reference:

Foodservice Director

Healthcare Dive