Food Service Quality and Identification of Improvement Strategies - Essay Example

Assessment of foodservice quality and identification of improvement strategies using hospital foodservice quality model Assessment of Food Service Quality and Identification of Improvement Strategies Using Hospital Foodservice Quality Management Journal Name: Journal of Nutrition Research and Practice Authors: Kyungjoo Kim, Minyoung Kim, and Kyung-Eun Lee Source: Online Source Introduction Currently, all industries have become competitive owing to many organizations and small business that provide similar goods or services. As such, quality is a critical aspect of any organization of business operations, as it is an essential tool for achieving competitive advantage over the competitors. In addition, today’s consumer understands their right to quality goods and services, and values quality more than any other element. The hospital industry has not been left out also in this wave of competitiveness and quality service provision. Hence, every hospital must ensure that they access food and nutrition care quality, particularly for in-patients in order to improve the efficacy of health care institution. Moreover, there are changes in population age distribution, as well as lifestyle, which call for changes in diet and nutritional profiles. As a result, the healthcare facilities need to undergo modifications to meet the demands of the current society in order to cater for new disease profiles and increased life expectancy. Therefore, the hospital management must not only ensure they provide quality foods, but also foods that meet the demands of the current population. In addition, in this era of technology, patients have a lot of information at hand, and thus, are becoming more discriminative about quality. Hence, it is time the hospital management treats in-patients as customers rather than patients in order to provide them with quality services to ensure that they retain them. This paper gives a summary of the article Assessment of Food Service Quality and Identification of Improvement Strategies Using Hospital Foodservice Quality Management, which deals with system approach in the hospital setting. Summary of the article In this article, the authors carried out a study to determine hospital based foodservice quality, problems that hinder achievement of quality, as well strategies for improvement. Following the study, the authors formulated a definition for quality foodservice in a hospital context, and determine Hospital Foodservice Quality model. The study was carried out in two phases whereby the first step involved specification of nutritional standards on diet manuals, as well as assessment of nutrients of planned served meals, menus, and consumed meals for diabetic, regular, and low-sodium diets in three general hospitals. On the other hand, step 2 involved labeling of corrective actions and quality hazards through a case study in the process of determining improvement strategies. This also involved finding solutions for the gaps identified in step 1. These steps are discussed further below. Step 1 The subjects of the study included three general hospitals one located in Chon-An, and the other two in Seoul. The study involved 516 subjects selected randomly, 373 of whom were on regular diet, 37 on low sodium diet, and 106 on diabetic diet. The data was collected for three days selected randomly, and two of which were weekdays and one weekend between March-May 2007. Before the foods were handed over to the patients, weighed the menu items and labelled this as the portion size. Similarly, dieticians measured the waste from the collected plates after eating. The weight from this measurement was divided by the number of trays given out to the participants to determine the average plate waste for each menu. The value from this measurement was then used to calculate the average consumption by the patients with the formula below, all values in grams: Average consumption = portion size – average plate waste Observation on this exercise revealed that patients ate all the fruits and milk as snacks despite the fact that they were served alongside meals. Energy, protein, carbohydrates, and fats constituted the nutrients analyzed in this study. Following the completion of step 1, the authors determined the critical control points after calculating by percentage the Foodservice Quality Model (FQM). Consequently, the FQM identified the existence of five gaps with Gap 5 being the discrepancy between nutrient consumption and nutritional requirements in in-patients. The hospitals foodservice quality becomes good if the nutritional requirements are similar to the nutrient contents of the food consumed. However, quality problems arise when patients consume food that is lee or more than their nutritional requirements. Furthermore, the studies determined Gap 2, 3 and 4 in order to evaluate the factors that cause problems in foodservice quality. Gap 2 represented the discrepancies between the standards of nutrition on diet manuals and those of nutrient values in planned menus. Gap 3 involved comparing nutrients in meals given to the patients with those on the planned menu. Finally, Gap 4 was the inconsistencies in nutrients consumed and those served. The results reveal that patients failed to consume the nutrients they needed through the discrepancies in Gap 2-4. Step 2 This step employed a case study to identify quality hazards and develop solutions for the critical control points identified in step 1. The case study was carried out at Hospital A whereby the authors identified 14 menu items based on methods of preparation and characteristics of ingredients. For of the selected menu, the researchers drew a flow diagram in order to observe the production process. In addition, they interviewed two managers who were also dieticians and other 7 dieticians of the lower level to investigate the causes of quality problems, as well as strategies to improve these the quality of foodservice. Gap 3 revealed the failure to serve patients with foods indicated in the diet manuals as planned by dieticians. Therefore, the quality hazard determined here was inaccurate forecasting and variations of quality demands, and the solution for this was given as provision of accurate forecasting system. Another hazard identified in Gap 3 was food production process in which the staff used all ingredients ordered, and thus, failed to observe standardized recipes. Hence, ordering the required amounts of ingredients with respect to the forecasting demand was established as the solution to this problem. The third quality hazard identified at Gap 3 involved the production process whereby the staff ignored using the recipes; thus affecting temperatures, amount of water added, cooking times, preparation procedures that in return affected quality. The solution for this problem entailed improving the standard recipes and providing training and education for the foodservice staff on how to use the standard recipes. The final problem that affected quality was inability to control portion, and the solution was to provide the foodservice staff with appropriate tools and equipment for measuring portions. In addition, in Gap 4 several quality hazards identified included lack of menu variety, inconsistencies in the quality of menu, menus with low preferences, and unsuitable food temperature, which led to patients failing to consume what they were served. Moreover, the study established that patients were not aware of their nutritional requirements. To correct the quality hazards in Gap 5, the researchers suggested menu development, periodic patient surveys, opportunities for menu selection, and meal rounding. Additionally, product quality must be tested by the dieticians before serving to patients. Another critical point identified was maintaining food temperature when distributing to the patients. Finally, in order to make patients understand the importance of consuming the meals provided by the foodservice staff, they should be educated on the dietary and its connection with their recovery, and provided with information regarding their diets. From the study, the authors defined foodservice quality as, “foodservice meeting patient’s nutritional requirements”. In the discussion, the authors give some strategies that could apply in effective management of hospitals aimed at achieving quality. Among these is room service initiative, which allows patients request for their preferred meal when they want it. In addition, this program ensures more food choices, patient empowerment, decreased waste, and most importantly, improved quality of food. Other services suggested include nutrition counselling and education of patients to understand the need to consume their foods and the relationship between their diseases and diet. Finally, the authors acknowledge that achieving foodservice quality in hospitals is not easy, as it requires both intangible and tangible aspects. Thus, success in achieving quality requires development of strategies from a holistic point of view. How the Article Relates to Topic Covered in Class This article relates to the content covered in class because it is a combination of service provision, performance improvement, and majorly systems approach based on foodservice in hospitals. For example, systems approach deals with the current trends and growth in the food service industry from a managerial point of view, and as seen in the article, it focuses of foodservice provision that meets the demands of the current trends in the society. As noted, the current trends show a change in demographics, age distribution, nutritional profiles, lifestyle, and even emergence of new diseases. This calls for a shift in management to adopt systems that will ensure quality in the midst of all these requirements. Moreover, competitiveness is another aspect of the current trend that requires strategic management and quality service provision in order to survive in the industry. Finally, this article discusses several challenges in the food service industry as mentioned in Gap 2-5 that affects quality service provision, similar to what the class topic discusses with great emphasis on culinary services. Usefulness of this article to my career My major is nutrition and this article contains several issues that nutritionists must know in order to ensure efficacy in their service provision. For example, nutritionists need to know the dietary requirements for patients if working in a hospital setting, as well as the quantities of these requirements. In addition, the article suggests the need for nutritional counselling and education of patients in order to make them understand the need to take their meals. This is very essential in nutrition profession because before prescribing a given diet to a client, they must first be taught on the importance of this diet to their health for them to stick to the diet. I see myself in a hospital setting during my future career, and this study clearly outlines the part that a nutritionist need to play in order to help the hospital achieve foodservice quality. Assessment of foodservice quality and identification of improvement strategies using hospital foodservice quality model Assessment of foodservice quality and identification of improvement strategies using hospital foodservice quality model Read More