Switch to room service scheduled for summer
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – On Friday (March 25), employees in West Virginia University Hospitals Nutrition Services will graduate from customer service training in preparation for the department’s transition to a room service style of patient meal delivery, which is scheduled to occur this summer.
Nutrition Services partnered with Don Miller and Associates, a coaching group that assists non-contract healthcare food service departments improve performance. Employees will graduate from the group’s “Destination 10 – Customer Service Academy,” which according to the group’s website is a “formalized, structured set of tools and services focused on inspiring food service teams to perform at the highest performance level.”
The purpose of the training is to prepare employees for the upcoming switch from scheduled meal delivery to room service delivery. In this system, patients will phone a hospitality center to place their orders between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Four customer service agents will be on hand to answer the calls. Meals will be delivered to patients within 45 minutes.
“Room service is a patient meal delivery system that has been implemented in hospitals across the country over the past 10 to15 years,” Kendra Stoen, director of WVUH Nutrition Services, said. “We are very excited to offer this service to our patients. It is a huge transition for all involved, but the patient satisfaction results that other hospitals have seen make it worth the effort.”
Telecommunications will provide reports to Nutrition Services regarding peak call volume times, wait times and lost calls, so that the department can adjust as necessary. Reports will also be run toward the end of each normal meal period to see who has not ordered so those patients can be checked on.
“With this style of meal delivery, patients are happier, and in the long run, it’s less expensive for us than traditional meal delivery,” Stoen said. “But the number one reason to do this is patient satisfaction. At the end of the day, that’s what we’re here for.”
Graduation ceremonies will be held at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. in conference rooms 7 and 8 on the fourth floor of Ruby Memorial Hospital.