Key facilitators and best practices of hotel-style room service in hospitals.
This qualitative study sought to identify the features, advantages, and disadvantages of hotel-style room service; the barriers to, and facilitators for, implementing the process; and "best practices." The study took place in four heterogeneous hospitals. Participants included hospital administrators, managers, and room-service employees. Data-collection methods included semi-structured interviews, observations, and document analysis. Common features of hotel-style room service were meal delivery within 30 to 45 minutes, a restaurant-style menu, procedures to feed ineligible patients, tray assembly on demand, scripting, and waitstaff uniforms for room-service employees. The major barrier to implementing room service was obtaining nursing support. The key facilitators were the hospital's service-oriented culture, using a multidisciplinary planning team, engaging nursing departments early in the planning stages, and intense customer-service training of room-service employees. The overwhelming advantage was patients' control over their food choices. The main disadvantage was cost. Initial best practices in hotel-style room service include: (a) taking a multidisciplinary team approach for developing and implementing the process, (b) customer-service training, (c) using a customer-driven menu, (d) wearing waitstaff uniforms, and (e) using carts with airpots for dispensing hot beverages.
Department of Human Sciences, Middle Tennessee State University, 2623 Middle Tennessee Blvd, Murfreesboro, TN 37132, USA.
Lisa
L
Sheehan-Smith
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D019985:Benchmarking; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D004046:Dietetics / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D005521:Food Service, Hospital / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards*; D006750:Hospital Distribution Systems / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards*; D015285:Hospital-Patient Relations; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008612:Menu Planning; D008875:Middle Aged; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D018579:Patient Selection; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States