The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center

The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center serves the community through its main 1,500-bed hospital and its 200-bed community hospital. The organization is committed to delivering unparalleled care and has been on the U.S. News Best Hospital list for 29 consecutive years.

OSU Wexner Medical Center uses CBORD’s full suite of seamlessly integrated solutions to manage the entire food and nutrition operation—from back-of-house food production and patient nutrition with on-demand room service to employee cashless accounts and mobile commerce.

Challenge

While the department is operating effectively overall, the OSU Wexner Medical Center team realized employees were spending too much of their break time standing in line and waiting for their food to be prepared. They also needed a better way to manage the cumbersome, manual process for feeding night shift employees and managing guest trays.

With employee satisfaction an important priority, Laura Meadows, business systems analyst for OSU Wexner Medical Center, knew it was vital to simplify and streamline the workday for employees as much as possible.

The department provides an unmanned night room with premade refrigerated meal options for employees working the night shift. Employees would write down what they selected from the night-feeding room, and the team would then enter the charges into the system the next day. “This manual process was time consuming,” commented Meadows.

One of the main issues with managing guest trays was centered around the payment aspect. “When it comes to guest trays, collecting payment has challenges,” said Meadows.

Solution

OSU Wexner Medical Center turned to CBORD’s GET app to help solve all three of their operational challenges. GET is an online and mobile solution that expands the capabilities of Odyssey Direct, CBORD’s employee account and cashless payment solution, to simplify the way employees order and pay for meals, products, and services during the workday.

GET lets employees order ahead, avoid the wait, and enjoy more of their break time. The team got creative and adapted their processes to take advantage of the GET app to help with the night shift and guest tray challenges. The app lets night shift employees order and pay for their food and enables guests to order and pay for a tray that will be delivered to the patient’s room along with the patient’s meal.

Result

OSU Wexner Medical Center values the improvements GET has brought to the department.

Employee feedback indicates they appreciate the app, and guests enjoy being able to easily order a tray so they can dine along with the patient they are visiting.

Improved Convenience, Time Savings

The response from employees has been consistently positive, especially during peak mealtimes. “They love it because they can order and pay using the app, then go to a pickup location of their choice outside of the venue,” Meadows noted. “They don’t even have to go into the crowded café.”

OSU Wexner Medical Center recently added a location that can order using GET. At first, Meadows wasn’t sure if the app would be used as much at the new, smaller location.

She quickly found that it was quite popular. “People do use it. They don’t want to order in person because the venue serves upscale sandwiches that take time to prepare,” Meadows said. “When they order using the GET app, they can get a fancy sandwich without having to spend 10 or 15 minutes waiting for it. That’s the key.”

The team is currently in the process of expanding this capability to another two locations. “We’re planning to do the same in our two new outlier cafés just because it’s been such a hit,” commented Meadows.

Modern, Efficient Night-Shift Solution

With the cafés closed during the night shift, OSU Wexner Medical Center provides a place for employees to purchase food.

“It’s like a mini mart that has sandwiches, chips and other food and snack items,” Meadows noted. “Now, the only way to get food out of the night feeding room is to order and pay through GET. This means we no longer have to enter the charges from the previous night, saving us at least an hour per day.”

This new approach has been well received by their night-shift employees. “We have probably 30 orders per night, and it’s all through GET,” Meadows said. “We’ve had no complaints.”

Better Guest Experience

Guests are now able to order a tray and pay using the GET app, eliminating the awkward, cumbersome process of taking guest payments. “With GET, the process is seamless,” Meadows commented. “Guests appreciate being able to dine along with the patient, and our staff is glad they don’t need to ask for payment anymore.”

Ready to learn more? Read about our employee cashless and mobile commerce solutions, and check out the case study that discusses the benefits Children’s Hospital Colorado saw after implementing GET.

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