Children’s Hospital Colorado

Recognized among the best-of-the-best pediatric hospitals in the nation, Children’s Hospital Colorado is ranked #6 on the prestigious U.S. News & World Report’s Best Children’s Hospital Honor Roll, an annual honor attributed to exceptional clinical outcomes, coordination of care, and care-related resources.

Listed 10th in pediatric specialties, its reimagined mission dedicated to child health, advocacy, and education continues to draw more than 3,000 pediatric specialists and more than 5,000 full-time employees.

As staff numbers grew, so did retail café volumes at the Anschutz Medical Campus resulting in slower moving lines, decreased mealtime, and declined staff and guest satisfaction.

These challenges were then met with the novel coronavirus outbreak that upended healthcare, causing Children’s Hospital Colorado’s food service department to adjust its retail operation to keep pace with the rapidly changing guidelines and safety measures. They turned to long-term partner, CBORD, for an immediate solution.

Dynamic Support

Having successfully used Odyssey Direct, CBORD’s cloud-based cashless solution, Melanie Gonzales, food services director of Children’s Hospital Colorado, was confident their tenured partnership could yet again yield positive outcomes. “We were considering GET before the pandemic, but COVID-19 tipped the scales. Our business was growing pretty sustainably and our volume in the café, especially around lunch time, was pretty overwhelming,” said Gonzales. “We then went from struggling to manage the lines and get customers in and out of our café in a timely manner to needing a way to effectively socially distance in our café.”

GET was a natural fit. Because Children’s Hospital Colorado already understood the value that a one-card solution offered through Odyssey Direct, by integrating GET, CBORD’s online and mobile app, meant a complete commerce solution with access to online ordering, cashless payments, and account management through the convenience of a mobile device—an easy solution for Children’s Hospital Colorado.

Revenue Support

“We never restricted access to our café, but we did put a lot of social distancing parameters in place,” said Gonzales. “We went from 100 employees at the Anschutz campus cafe to establishing guidelines that only permitted 20 people at a time,” she said.

The sharp decline based on updated policies meant decreased revenues in retail operations, but with GET, Children’s Hospital Colorado has recouped some loss by using the commerce solution to assist in its retail revenue generating model. “Our average check for GET orders is higher than our check for customers who come to the café. We never anticipated this. Additionally, with a lot of our staff still at home, we haven’t had to increase service stations or staffing to support this solution,” said Gonzales.

Convenience and Safety

With GET, Children’s Hospital Colorado was able to create and promote safer dining areas by providing touch-free payments, limiting cash handling and face-to-face interactions.

Their café configuration earmarked a specific pickup area for GET orders allowing for an even quicker experience. “This solution has been ideal because it allows our team members to order their meals ahead of time, either online or through the mobile app, allowing them to pick-up the order never having stepped foot in the café,” said Gonzales.

While safety remains a critically important component of why Children’s Hospital Colorado selected CBORD as its trusted partner, so does ensuring the ability to deliver an improved dining experience for guests and staff.

Even going from 2,500 transactions to 1,400 per day due to the pandemic, the café still experienced high traffic volume, and Gonzales was determined to provide an improved patron experience.

“We wanted to eliminate frustration experienced in the retail area and increase line speed within the 30-minute lunch window,” said Gonzales. “We not only  accomplished this, but we’ve also improved order accuracy and ease of service through GET.”

Children’s Hospital Colorado staff save approximately 5 – 10 minutes using GET versus ordering in the café. Once an order is placed, the kitchen receives a printout of the selected meal items, allowing the team to efficiently craft and compose the order. “This is truly a great combination. Employees don’t feel so rushed standing in front of the server to place the order,” said Gonzales.

Children’s Hospital Colorado extends the same hot and cold menu options that are available in the café through the GET app, even allowing team members to build their own meals using the solution. Gonzales said the decision was strategic and, by offering the full menu, they were confident the decision would help transfer additional transactions through GET. “Staff enjoy and appreciate the flexibility, wide range of options, and convenience offered through GET,” said Gonzales. “Also, being able to use payroll deduct or their credit cards for payment through GET has been a tremendous time saver.”

Since implementing GET, the Anschutz campus café handles 130 orders daily, with numbers doubling monthly.

Expanding Contactless Technologies

With grab-and-go and touchless technologies on the rise, hospitals and health systems continue to turn to mobile ordering to help decrease face-to-face time between employees and food service staff, minimize wait times in café areas, and drive increased revenue.

Through Children’s Hospital Colorado’s partnership with CBORD, they’ve successfully managed to drive increased patron satisfaction and engagement in a socially safe dining experience, drive revenue for each per ticket purchase, increase order accuracy, improve line and transaction speed, and eliminate transaction fees associated with credit and debit card purchases.

“After rolling out GET at our Anschutz campus café, we’ve seen the benefit and have since implemented the solution at our North campus,” said Gonzales. “It’s my goal to have GET available across our four campuses.”

Ready to read more? Click here to view the PDF and learn how Children’s Hospital Colorado transformed its retail operation.

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