Technology has transformed the healthcare experience for patients and providers. It has brought new levels of efficiency and helped to deliver results for new safety initiatives.
In hospital food and nutrition services, Morrison Healthcare has developed and invested in our MyDining program to bring a new level of service to patients. In a nutshell, MyDining is a personalized patient meal-ordering system. Patients place orders by phone to a call center or a patient dining associate will visit the room to take their order. Food and nutrition service team members and administrators also benefit through an easy system to log, track, and report on meal orders while its operational features improve order accuracy, enhance patient safety, and boost patient satisfaction scores.
“We’ve experienced tremendous growth since we launched MyDining in 2014,” said Erica Stevens, National Director for MyDining at Morrison Healthcare. “It all comes down to efficiency and delivering results. When I started working with the program, we had seven accounts on the platform. Today, we have 258 and growing. It’s a testament to the strength of the software solution and our ability to continue to evolve it to fit our clients’ needs.”
Here are the 3 Things You Need to Know about MyDining:
MyDining: A Fully Customized Technology Solution
MyDining is not a one-size-fits all software solution. The Morrison Healthcare team customizes the technology to fit each facility’s distinctive needs. That means patients are put at the heart of the application’s design.
It starts with a discovery period where the team gets a feel for operational workflows and what makes the facility unique. From there, the team customizes every aspect of the MyDining experience from menus to ticket formats and even the display itself.
“None of our clients are the same and we don’t expect them to have the same needs,” said Stevens. “The power of MyDining is the ability to customize the tool for each facility. That means administrators are getting the information they need, the onsite team has a system that fits their workflows, and patients have the most user-friendly tool to accelerate healing.”
The team is listening and recently introduced a new high-risk tray function. Hospitals have already found major success by utilizing this portion of MyDining, instead of relying on the traditional paper process
Delivering Actionable Data
Technology plays an important role in ensuring hospitals have the best data, which allows hospitals to better understand the unique challenges they face and benchmark against their competition and peers.
MyDining is built on a foundation of analytics, giving leaders the data they need to report on, track, and evaluate the food and nutrition services operation. That data enables success by giving a clear picture of operational efficiency and showing potential areas of improvement.
“Continuous improvement is the name of the game,” Stevens said. “MyDining reporting offers the visibility needed into pertinent department metrics. You can see where you are and better plan where you want to be.”
Data can be a major driver of patient experience improvements. MyDining drills down to the patient level, easily displaying queues to assist with understanding the patient’s needs and history. That patient history can be preserved from admission to admission to assist if the patient returns in the future. It’s about empowering the team to best care for patients.
A Team Approach Led by Dietitians
The MyDining team is truly the secret sauce for the program’s success. The team is led by registered dietitians who have worked in operations. That means they understand what hospital’s food and nutrition service departments need and how best to support their journey.
Having the right team makes a big difference. Clients have direct access to the team that is designing the technology. It’s not a third party. It is the MyDining team. They work hand-in-hand with hospital leaders to solve problems and deliver a technology solution that boosts on-site operations.
“We evolve the technology in the direction of the business,” said Stevens. “You have to have the right team in place to be nimble and provide customized solutions in the fast-paced world of hospital food and nutrition services. Our team is invested in our clients’ success, and we are constantly seeking opportunities to understand how the MyDining software can evolve to further support operational workflows.”
Access to the team is another differentiator. Clients always have access to the MyDining team for training or support. It’s 24/7, not just a recorded training. Real people delivering real results.
Even with all these benefits and services, MyDining can make a major impact in another area—the bottom line. MyDining costs 20 to 40 percent less than other software solutions. That ensures hospitals can be the best stewards of their financial resources and continue to provide leading care for their community.
By utilizing the right team and software solution, hospitals can make a quantifiable impact on their operations and the patient experience. MyDining is a powerful tool helping hospitals maximize the medicinal power of food.
