Your health system is expanding again, adding eight hospitals and two long-term care facilities to its network.

What impact will expansion have on your food service operation?

While it’s good news for the health system, you know it means you will have at least 10 new food service systems to manage and support. And each new site is different: some are self-op, some are contracted, some are already using management systems, and some have no automation at all.

Training on multiple systems, reporting on unconsolidated data, and supporting independent solutions that don’t talk to each other will result in wasted time and money. A lack of centralized control can also increase the potential for errors that impact patient safety.

The only way to effectively run a large, complex multi-site foodservice operation is with the right technology solution that provides enterprise-level management. Look for an integrated system that provides everything you need to take centralized control of your food service and patient nutrition operations.

Let’s explore some of the main capabilities you need and why you need them.

Central menu planning and enterprise data sharing

Look for a solution that was built specifically for enterprise management of large, multi-unit food service operations. The system needs to include complete end-to-end foodservice management that provides central menu planning and enterprise data sharing, along with full-featured food production, inventory management, patient nutrition, and more.

This way, you maintain control over ingredients, recipes, and diet-specific menus that will be used across all sites. You can ensure consistency across the entire organization by allowing each location to access standardized item information to create local recipes.

Enterprise procurement

Enterprise procurement drives volume, maximizes incentives, and reduces SKUs. From an enterprise standpoint, purchasing control is key to cost savings. Look for the solution that uses configured algorithms to suggest the best product for any ingredient based on availability, order guide, contract status, price, etc. This drives volume purchasing of the same products across the enterprise, maximizing rebates.

Continuum of care

Different levels of care and patient mix require different approaches to dining and meal ordering. Many solution providers focus only on Acute Care or Long-Term Care (LTC). Others have different software solutions for each. Look for the provider that supports the continuum of care on a single platform.

The right technology solution can save the day when it comes to managing the complexities of food service for a large health system. With centralized control, you can:

• Realize significant cost savings, maximize rebates, and ensure GPO compliance by encouraging everyone to purchase the same products as much as possible.
• Provide a consistent patient and staff experience across all sites.
• Connect and integrate each new site efficiently.

Interested in learning more? Read more about our foodservice and patient nutrition solutions. Also, feel free to view our on-demand webinar, Discover the Benefits of Centralization in Healthcare Foodservice, that discusses the benefits of an integrated, enterprise foodservice solution. 

Find out how standardization helped Sutter Health reduce food costs $150,000 in nine months with restaurant-style menus and CBORD food and nutrition solutions.