Not your grandfather's hospital food: Health systems make meals part of population health
Skip to main content
MDHC_Logotype_white
Subscribe
  • My Account
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • This Week's News
    • COVID-19
    • Providers
    • Insurance
    • Government
    • Finance
    • Technology
    • Safety & Quality
    • People
    • Regional News
    • Digital Edition
    • Ohio to save $240M in Medicaid drug costs by running its own PBM
      MACPAC approves recommendations on specialty drugs, behavioral health
      Top R.I. state official will take over, review hospital agency
      No region in the world spared as virus cases, deaths surge
    • No region in the world spared as virus cases, deaths surge
      We're losing engaged providers, and healthcare will pay the price
      J&J vaccine problems hamper U.S. military vaccines overseas
      U.S. suicides dropped last year, defying pandemic expectations
    • Calls mount for Biden to track U.S. healthcare worker deaths from COVID
      Front-line workers want more assistance after a year of COVID-19
      Healthcare providers enter Philadelphia's legal fight to enact gun laws
      Taking population health expertise to the market
    • Cigna and Oscar expand their small business partnership
      5 things to know about Agilon Health's proposed IPO
      More than a half million Americans gain coverage under Biden
      Insurance auto-retention policies could halve number of people kicked off coverage
    • MACPAC approves recommendations on specialty drugs, behavioral health
      No region in the world spared as virus cases, deaths surge
      CMS wants to bump pay for hospices, SNFs next year
      MACPAC wants to cut Medicaid spending on high-cost specialty drugs
    • Outgoing UHS chief made almost 50% less in 2020 than 2019
      A hundred dollar bill cut into strips with a colorful background.
      Population health still at odds with fee-for-service
      Private equity could increase long-term Medicare spending, MedPAC says
      Jeb Bush, Marilyn Tavenner getting in on healthcare SPAC frenzy
    • Healthcare data breaches
      By the Numbers: National health information service providers
      Health systems are navigating the digital divide and vaccine access
      woman doctor shaking hands with nurse and smiling
      Sponsored Content Provided By Philips
      A stronger healthcare system requires bold new ways of working together
    • Fight against STDs lost amid coronavirus testing blitz
      Beyond the Byline: Kids' unchecked mental health needs pose long-term consequences
      Hospitals vary widely in reducing C-section rates, but some progress in other maternal health metrics
      Home improvement to be provided by ProMedica's new healthy homes initiative
    • Novant Health adds chief payor performance officer
      Kaiser Permanente names Comer chief IT officer
      Mass General Hospital's Slavin to retire as CEO
      UnitedHealthcare names Thompson as new CEO
    • Midwest
    • Northeast
    • South
    • West
  • Insights
    • ACA 10 Years After
    • Best Practices
    • Special Reports
    • Innovations
    • The Affordable Care Act after 10 years
    • A close-up of a woman receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.
      Providers in underserved communities work toward equitable vaccine distribution
      Josh Bradshaw
      How one rural Illinois county vaccinated 84% of its senior citizens by early March
      Dr. John Fischer
      Patient-reported outcomes tool for hernia surgery helps physicians improve care
      New care model helps primary-care practices treat obesity
    • A family photo of the the Hangens.
      Stressing the already burdened pediatric behavioral health system
      Jennifer Pannone and her daughter Victoria.
      Mental health access for children needs attention
      What's next for on-demand telehealth companies?
      A CalOptima PACE vaccination clinic.
      Will COVID-19 be the catalyst for creating a more sustainable healthcare system?
    • Ryan McGinnis
      Finding efficiencies in the OR using tech
      Dr. Daniel Hall
      UPMC pilots machine learning, telehealth to inform patient transfers
      A woman being recorded using her inhaler on a smartphone.
      Digital check-ins, connected inhalers help control asthma
      A phone screen showing the question, "Mary we hope this information was helpful and we'd like to keep guiding you. Are you interested in knowing when it's your turn to receive the vaccine?"
      Chatbots, texting campaigns help manage influx of COVID vax questions
  • Transformation
    • Patients
    • Operations
    • Care Delivery
    • Payment
    • Nearly 1 in 5 Americans skipped care due to cost last year
      COVID-19 long-haulers need holistic treatment, providers say
      Amazon expanding employee clinics into two more states
      What's next for on-demand telehealth companies?
    • Malpractice premiums peak in 2020, AMA survey shows
      A rendering of a cancer research institute at the University of Southern California that will include 5G.
      Healthcare providers determine how to best use ultrafast 5G
      Two-thirds of largest hospitals aren't complying with price transparency rule
      'Silver lining': Hospitals keep practices born in COVID rush
    • Addressing long-standing barriers needed for mental and physical health integration
      A close-up of a woman receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.
      Providers in underserved communities work toward equitable vaccine distribution
      The waiting room of a Kaiser Permanente clinic at a Target location.
      Health systems revamp their approach to retail clinics
      Josh Bradshaw
      How one rural Illinois county vaccinated 84% of its senior citizens by early March
    • CMS wants to bump pay for hospices, SNFs next year
      CMMI pauses new Direct Contracting model applications
      CMS wants to boost payments over 2% for inpatient rehab, psych facilities
      40 Oregon providers, insurers sign value-based care pact
  • Data/Lists
    • Rankings/Lists
    • Interactive Databases
    • Data Points
    • Health Systems Financials
      Executive Compensation
      Physician Compensation
  • Op-Ed
    • Bold Moves
    • Breaking Bias
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Vital Signs Blog
    • From the Editor
    • Dr. Alan Kaplan
      The risks, rewards of taking organizations 'where they haven’t gone before'
      Wellstar CEO calls adapting for the pandemic her bold move
      Howard P. Kern
      Recognizing the value of telehealth in its infancy
      Dr. Stephen Markovich
      A bold move helped take him from family doctor to OhioHealth CEO
    • Drs. Hal Paz and Joshua J. Joseph
      Mobilized to fight the COVID crisis: a blueprint for community and academic partnerships
      Dr. Stephen Markovich
      Making sure we're aligned along the path to achieving inclusion
      Barry Ostrowsky
      Ending racism is a journey taken together; the starting point must be now
      Laura Lee Hall and Gary Puckrein
      Increased flu vaccination has never been more important for communities of color
    • We're losing engaged providers, and healthcare will pay the price
      Dr. Chris DeRienzo
      How COVID-19 broke health systems and made them stronger
      Bonnie Castillo and John Welton
      Dueling opinions: The role of mandated nurse staffing ratios
      Still crossing the quality chasm: a look at the IOM's seminal report 20 years later
    • Letters: Eliminating bias in healthcare needs to be ‘deliberate and organic’
      Letters: Maybe dropping out of ACOs is a good thing for patients
      Letters: White House and Congress share blame for lack of national COVID strategy
      Letters: VA making strides to improve state veterans home inspections
    • Sponsored Content Provided By Optum
      How blockchain could ease frustration with the payment process
      Sponsored Content Provided By Optum
      Three steps to better data-sharing for payer and provider CIOs
      Sponsored Content Provided By Optum
      Reduce total cost of care: 6 reasons why providers and payers should tackle the challenge together
      Sponsored Content Provided By Optum
      Why CIOs went from back-office operators to mission-critical innovators
  • Awards
    • Award Programs
    • Nominate
    • Previous Award Programs
    • Other Award Programs
    • Voting Open - 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
      Nominations Open - Top 25 Innovators
      Nominations Open May 24 - Top 25 Emerging Leaders
    • 100 Most Influential People
    • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
    • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
    • Health Care Hall of Fame
    • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
    • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
    • Top 25 Innovators
    • Minorities in Healthcare
      • - Luminaries
      • - Top 25 Minority Leaders
      • - Minorities to Watch
    • Women in Healthcare
      • - Luminaries
      • - Top 25 Women Leaders
      • - Women to Watch
    • Excellence in Nursing Awards
    • Design Awards
    • Top 25 COOs in Healthcare
    • 100 Top Hospitals
    • ACHE Awards
  • Events
    • Conferences
    • Galas
    • Webinars
    • COVID-19 Event Tracker
    • emburse certify modern healthcare custom media webinar logo lockup
      Sponsored Content Provided By Emburse
      Webinar: Making it easy to manage costs
      virtualmed staff modern healthcare custom media logo lockup
      Sponsored Content Provided By VirtualMed Staff
      Webinar: Best practices for creating a successful telepsychiatry program
      telehealth visit man touching neck while speaking to doctor on computer
      Sponsored Content Provided By Accumen
      Webinar: How telehealth has evolved into a standard of care
      modern healthcare custom media and trimedx custom webinar logo lockup
      Sponsored Content Provided By TRIMEDX
      Webinar: Bridging the gap between clinicians and administration to improve capital equipment planning
    • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
    • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
    • Healthcare Transformation Summit
    • Leadership Symposium
    • Virtual Briefings
      • - Hospital of the Future
      • - Mental Health
      • - Patient Safety & Quality
      • - Strategic Marketing
      • - Virtual Health
      • - Workplace of the Future
    • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
    • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
    • Top 25 Minority Leaders Gala
    • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
  • Listen
    • Podcast - Next Up
    • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
    • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
    • Video Series - The Check Up
    • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • Dr. Chris DeRienzo
      Next Up Podcast: Building team spirit in the wake of COVID-19
      Mikelle Moore
      Next Up Podcast: Mikelle Moore on recognizing all hospital workers during the pandemic
      Empty boardroom
      Next Up Podcast: What's going to happen tomorrow? Succession planning during emergencies
      Next Up Podcast: Educating patients on the COVID-19 vaccine with Tanya Andreadis
    • Beyond the Byline: Kids' unchecked mental health needs pose long-term consequences
      Beyond the Byline: How COVID-19 has impacted hospital finances
      An older man sitting on a hospital bed with his back toward the camera.
      Beyond the Byline: Upcoding could explain why hospitals are increasingly billing for the most complex treatment
      Beyond the Byline: Insurers are betting on virtual-first plans as COVID-19 shifts care pathways
    • James garvert neustar healthcare insider podcast image
      Building on basics
      Healthcare Insider Podcast Episode Art - Premier
      Why Roger Weems and other consultants are leaving the big firms to join Premier
      James garvert neustar healthcare insider podcast image
      Outreach during COVID-19
      ann barnes healthcare insider podcast image
      Leading with intention to promote diversity and inclusion
    • The Check Up: Matt Eyles
      The Check Up: Matt Eyles of AHIP
      The Check Up: Dr. Tom Shanley
      The Check Up: Dr. Tom Shanley of Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
      The Check Up: Dr. Harold Paz
      The Check Up: Dr. Harold Paz of Wexner Medical Center at Ohio State University
      The Check Up: Pat Schou
      The Check Up: Pat Schou of the Illinois Critical Access Hospital Network
    • ivana naeymi-rad one on one intelligent medical objects
      Video: Ivana Naeymi Rad of Intelligent Medical Objects
  • MORE +
    • Advertise
    • Media Kit
    • Newsletters
    • Jobs
    • People on the Move
    • Reprints & Licensing
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Providers
May 30, 2015 01:00 AM

Not your grandfather's hospital food: Health systems make meals part of population health

Adam Rubenfire
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Print
    New Milford (Conn.) Hospital leaders set out to make the cafeteria a focal point of nutritional wellness for the entire community.

    Visitors to New Milford (Conn.) Hospital don't need to ask for directions to the hospital's newly renovated cafeteria because the healthy food eatery opens right into the main lobby.

    The lobby and cafeteria were relocated and redesigned when the 85-bed hospital completed renovation of its emergency department in late 2014. Hospital leaders set out to make the cafeteria a focal point of nutritional wellness for the entire community.

    The cafeteria's chefs tout their “Plow to Plate” approach, serving healthy, locally sourced meals. They have eliminated processed and fried foods, and regularly consult with local farmers and suppliers to create seasonal menus.

    “I see people come in for lunch and breakfast who are regulars because the food is so good,” said Damon deChamplain, administrative director at New Milford Hospital. They “just know it's a good hot meal that's very reasonably priced.”

    As more care is shifted to outpatient settings, New Milford is one of a growing number of hospitals seeking new revenue opportunities by making food service operations appealing to the broader community rather than only to people visiting patients.

    And in another important shift in food service operations, hospitals send chefs and dietitians into the community to help improve residents' health and assist with the management of post-acute patients.

    MH Takeaways

    Health systems are deploying dietitians in outpatient settings to help patients avoid readmissions.

    Health systems are introducing the innovations partly to maintain customer volume for food service operations as they face pressures to shift care to lower-cost outpatient settings and find new revenue sources. Administrators say their inpatient meal volume has remained largely unchanged so far. But they recognize that will change as outpatient care grows. That means attracting more retail customers for dining.

    “The shift from inpatient to outpatient really required us to create a world-class retail experience with recognizable brands,” said Gary Crompton, president of Healthcare Hospitality at Aramark, a provider of healthcare food services. “Our approach to the retail space in this new world is actually to be better, from a value and quality standpoint, than what (the public) can get on the street.”

    Aramark is not alone. Sixty-four percent of food service operators surveyed in FoodService Director magazine's 2015 Hospital Census said their hospital retail-meal counts had increased during the past two years.

    Hospitals served an average of more than 1,000 retail meals a day last year, up 2.9% from the year before. Those meals accounted for 58% of all meals served at hospitals that reported offering both retail and patient food services.

    At New Milford, the new cafeteria and its locavore philosophy seems to be paying off. So far, the hospital has exceeded its retail revenue projections by 12%, said Tim Bouchard, vice president of the Healthcare Culinary Group at Unidine, which operates New Milford's cafeteria as well as food service operations at about 30 hospitals across the country.

    Boston-based Unidine has been growing at a rate of about 24% over the past five years, thanks in large part to retail growth, Bouchard said.

    The Stephanie Tubbs Jones Health Center features an “Iron Chef” teaching kitchen where patients and community members learn how to cook meals using less salt, sugar and fat.

    “When we're talking about trying to change someone's diet, it takes more than a 10-minute conversation with them. It's about follow-up.”

    Theresa Han-Markey

    Dietetics administrator University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
    Taking the kitchen to the community

    Hospital food service operations are also playing a growing role in population health management. They are deploying dietitians into the community, using dietary education to reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes and other conditions.

    Unidine hosts a variety of events, including farmers markets, chef demonstrations, wellness seminars and community meals for the elderly and disadvantaged in the communities served by its client hospitals.

    Bouchard said his company's dietitians have also organized grocery-store tours to help community members learn how to shop for healthier food.

    “We're switching to a more community-based program,” Bouchard said. “From a clinical perspective, you see more teaching needing to be done, not just at the bedside, but also in the community.”

    When the Cleveland Clinic closed Huron Hospital in East Cleveland in 2011, it replaced the hospital with an outpatient facility—the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Health Center, which features an “Iron Chef” teaching kitchen. There, patients and community members learn how to cook meals using less salt, sugar and fat.

    Every cooking class at the new health center includes a nutritional education component that focuses on the importance of reducing ingredients like saturated fats and carbohydrates and their impact on heart disease, diabetes and other chronic conditions. From 2012 to 2014, the Iron Chef kitchen hosted 36 classes with nearly 600 participants, according to a Cleveland Clinic spokeswoman.

    The kitchen is also used for healthcare research. This past year, it was the site of a six-week study examining whether dietary education, culinary classes and other lifestyle programs can delay or prevent the progression of pre-diabetes to diabetes.

    At Intermountain Healthcare, the system's dietitians and chefs regularly teach healthy cooking in local TV news segments and at community events, said Laura Watson, director of patient support services at the 22-hospital system based in Salt Lake City. That's part of Intermountain's community wellness initiative called LiVe Well.

    Retail-oriented food services at Intermountain's hospitals also have been an effective vehicle for community dietary education, Watson said. Hospital chefs create healthy plates accompanied by recipe cards so that visitors can make the dishes at home.

    “It's been a nice platform for us to support the mission of the system with great, healthy food and education and training about nutrition,” she said.

    There is evidence that New Milford Hospital's Plow to Plate sustainable-food education initiative, launched in 2006 by pediatrician Dr. Diane D'Isidori, has improved the health of local children. A study of 148 kids begun in 2012 found that after they were involved in the program for three years, the percentage who were obese or at risk of obesity dropped.

    A chef from Intermountain conducts a TV demo of one of the system's healthy LiVe Well recipes at a local network affiliate.

    Dietitians in the doctor's office

    Health system leaders are also emphasizing the key role dietitians can play in outpatient care.

    Intermountain has shifted many of its dietitians to outpatient and primary-care settings to enable them to provide dietary counseling quickly after patients receive a diagnosis that requires them to change their diet, Watson said.

    The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has called on healthcare leaders to better integrate dietitians into emerging delivery models such as patient-centered medical homes. “The overall health of our population depends on the nutrition community taking actions and providing coordinated and comprehensive care that focuses on the needs of the individual,” Bonnie Jortberg, a registered dietitian and professor of family medicine at the University of Colorado-Denver, and Dr. Michael Fleming, chief medical officer at home health and hospice provider Amedisys, wrote in an article in the December 2014 Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

    Registered dietitian nutritionists, they continued, “are uniquely experienced and positioned to be one of the critical healthcare professionals in our U.S. healthcare model of today and the future.”

    Dietetics is one of several comprehensive services that should be added to the primary-care settings of the future, said Amy Gibson, chief operating officer of the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative, an advocacy group for the patient-centered medical home model. A value-based health system will put more focus on non-physician services that can help patients manage their conditions. “Dietary is usually a big issue when it comes to chronic conditions,” she said.

    In hospitals, dietitians generally do not have the opportunity to provide the continuous care that is needed to prevent readmissions, said Theresa Han-Markey, a dietetics administrator at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. “When we're talking about trying to change someone's diet, it takes more than a 10-minute conversation with them,” she said. “It's about follow-up. Dietitians in a hospital don't follow up with a patient when they get out of the hospital.”

    With that in mind, the U-M Health System has doubled its staff of ambulatory-care dietitians in the past two years, with 60 dietitians now working in clinics, Han-Markey said. Those dietitians meet with patients during post-discharge medical appointments and monitor patients' nutrition status via follow-up phone calls.

    U-M dietitians are participating in a study of care for patients with congestive heart failure, a target group with frequent hospitalizations. They are hoping that putting patients on a low-sodium diet will improve their heart health and keep them out of the hospital.

    “Patients with heart failure know what they're supposed to do,” Han-Markey said. “But there hasn't really been somebody devoted to working with them on how to make it a reality.”

    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Send us a letter

    Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.

    Recommended for You
    Calls mount for Biden to track U.S. healthcare worker deaths from COVID
    Calls mount for Biden to track U.S. healthcare worker deaths from COVID
    Front-line workers want more assistance after a year of COVID-19
    Front-line workers want more assistance after a year of COVID-19
    Sponsored Content
    Get Newsletters

    Sign up for enewsletters and alerts to receive breaking news and in-depth coverage of healthcare events and trends, as they happen, right to your inbox.

    Subscribe Today
    MH Magazine Cover

    MH magazine offers content that sheds light on healthcare leaders’ complex choices and touch points—from strategy, governance, leadership development and finance to operations, clinical care, and marketing.

    Subscribe
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS
    • Instagram

    Our Mission

    Modern Healthcare empowers industry leaders to succeed by providing unbiased reporting of the news, insights, analysis and data.

    MDHC_Logotype_white
    Contact Us

    (877) 812-1581

    Email us

     

    Resources
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Choices Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Editorial Dept
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Code of Ethics
    • Awards
    • About Us
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Modern Healthcare
    Copyright © 1996-2021. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • This Week's News
      • COVID-19
      • Providers
      • Insurance
      • Government
      • Finance
      • Technology
      • Safety & Quality
      • People
      • Regional News
        • Midwest
        • Northeast
        • South
        • West
      • Digital Edition
    • Insights
      • ACA 10 Years After
      • Best Practices
      • Special Reports
      • Innovations
    • Transformation
      • Patients
      • Operations
      • Care Delivery
      • Payment
    • Data/Lists
      • Rankings/Lists
      • Interactive Databases
      • Data Points
    • Op-Ed
      • Bold Moves
      • Breaking Bias
      • Commentaries
      • Letters
      • Vital Signs Blog
      • From the Editor
    • Awards
      • Award Programs
        • 100 Most Influential People
        • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
        • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
        • Health Care Hall of Fame
        • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
        • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
        • Top 25 Innovators
        • Minorities in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Minority Leaders
          • - Minorities to Watch
        • Women in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Women Leaders
          • - Women to Watch
      • Nominate
      • Previous Award Programs
        • Excellence in Nursing Awards
        • Design Awards
        • Top 25 COOs in Healthcare
      • Other Award Programs
        • 100 Top Hospitals
        • ACHE Awards
    • Events
      • Conferences
        • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
        • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
        • Healthcare Transformation Summit
        • Leadership Symposium
        • Virtual Briefings
          • - Hospital of the Future
          • - Mental Health
          • - Patient Safety & Quality
          • - Strategic Marketing
          • - Virtual Health
          • - Workplace of the Future
      • Galas
        • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
        • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
        • Top 25 Minority Leaders Gala
        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
      • Webinars
      • COVID-19 Event Tracker
    • Listen
      • Podcast - Next Up
      • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
      • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
      • Video Series - The Check Up
      • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • MORE +
      • Advertise
      • Media Kit
      • Newsletters
      • Jobs
      • People on the Move
      • Reprints & Licensing