Rebecca A. Dowling

Current and Future Practices in Hospital Foodservice

OBJECTIVES To identify current operational practices and expectations for future practices in hospital foodservice; establish the probability that current practices will change; and determine whether differences in practices exist on the basis of profit status and hospital size. DESIGN A questionnaire, to determine current practices, probability of change, and expectations for future practices, was mailed to foodservice directors. SUBJECTS A random sample of 500 foodservice directors in US hospitals with 200 or more beds. A total of 214 questionnaires were returned for a response rate of 43%. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS Descriptive statistics were used to report current practices, probability of change, and expectations for future practices. The Kruskal-Wallis test was conducted to examine whether the probability of change ratings differed on the basis of hospital profit status and size. chi 2 Analysis was used to examine whether expectations for future practices differed based on hospital profit status and size. RESULTS Currently 81% of hospital foodservice departments have fewer than 100 employees; 73% have revenue budgets of less than

A healthful options food station can improve satisfaction and generate gross profit in a worksite cafeteria.

2 million; 49% have expense budgets greater than

Registered Dietitian Prescriptive Practices in Hospitals

2 million; 55% use a selective menu, often (43%) 1-week in length; 74% use conventional food production technology; 81% have a centralized, hot tray line; 91% operate a cafeteria; 96% do on-site catering; 69% have differential pricing for employee meals; 58% have subsidized employee meals; and 19% have coffee kiosks. Changes in current practices are expected in several areas. Foodservice directors expect to serve meals to fewer inpatients (71%), employ less staff (73%), have smaller expense budgets (70%), and generate more revenue (61%). Kruskal-Wallis and chi 2 analyses indicated few differences on the basis of hospital profit status and size. There was little consensus among directors on how to best respond to these environmental changes. APPLICATIONS Hospital foodservice practices will change in the future. Foodservice directors are using a variety of strategies (e.g., revenue-generating ventures, menu changes) to respond to current environmental changes. Increased emphasis will be placed on running a hospital foodservice department as a profit center rather than a cost center.

The Impact of a New Patient Foodservice Model Which Included a Spoken Menu on Efficiency and Effectiveness Measurements

The objectives of this study were to determine customer satisfaction with a healthful options food station offered in a worksite cafeteria and document the financial contribution of such a station. The healthful options station featured daily entrées with fewer than 500 calories and less than 30% of calories from fat. Questionnaires from 655 (24.5% response) employees and students provided data on satisfaction with and usage of the station. The majority of the respondents who had purchased from the healthful options station were female (77.3%), white (51.6%), aged 30 to 50 years (52.0%), and had annual incomes of

The Development of a Semiquantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire to Assess Usual Intake in Cardiology Patients

60,000 to

Position of the American dietetic association: Management of health care food and nutrition services

100,000 (29.3%) or

Are Registered Dietitians Adequately Prepared to Be Hospital Foodservice Directors

20,000 to

Position of the American Dietetic Association

39,999 (22.2%). Sales and gross profit from the healthful options station were compared to those of the comfort station. Customers were satisfied with attributes of the healthful options station (means >3 on a 5-point scale). Results of paired t tests suggested that customers who had purchased from the healthful options station rated the station significantly (P<0.001) higher for healthfulness of entrées, food presentation, food quality, overall quality of the cafeteria, length of line, and food choices available compared to their ratings for the cafeteria in general. The healthful options station generated average daily sales of

Role expansion for dietetics professionals.

458 and gross profit of

Evaluation of efficiency and effectiveness measurements of a foodservice system that included a spoken menu.

306. However, the sales and gross profit were significantly (P<0.05) less than the comparison comfort station.