Transforming healthcare foodservice management through vendor partnership

As Vice President of National Sales in Healthcare, Rob Burkart leads the US Foods^® VITALS team, which helps customers optimize efficiency and profitability in their operations. US Foods^® Business and Menu Solutions VITALS tools provide proven solutions that improve outcomes for patient satisfaction, cost management, labor and staffing, and improving retail performance. Customers that are fully engaged with VITALS tools experience an average reduction of 5% in overall operational expenses.

Rob Burkart: Patients expect to have food that is both comforting and nourishing, just as they would in a five-star restaurant. Healthcare foodservice operators balance cost and quality along with service and value, and innovate their service offerings between room service, cook/serve and on-demand food options to create exceptional experiences. Along with using creative menu solutions such as Blueprint™ 360 and best-in-class products, the US Foods^® Business Solutions team works with operators to implement VITALS tools such as test trays, feedback programs and rounding, and tray line audits to keep standards high. Our Blueprint^™ 360 tool provides pre-loaded menus with current food trends, product linking, vendor integration and recipes with allergen and nutritional analysis. The result is an increase in average patient experience score, time saved in onboarding software and overall savings in food cost.

RB: In healthcare foodservice labor management, operators struggle to adapt to technological advancements due to an untrained workforce. Additionally, inconsistent hiring has further plagued operations and the ability to offer all meal services. Understanding dynamic resource allocation, cross training, reskilling and optimal task matching can provide our operators with the foundation to better allocate labor and control their operations’ cost. Having too many or too few employees can affect overall productivity and budget. 

Given that healthcare foodservice productivity is measured by overall meals, patient days or adjusted patient days, it is essential to have a tool that can assist operators in understanding how their labor allocation affects this performance indicator. US Foods’ Labor Focus^™ tool assesses staffing, optimizes productivity, evaluates labor patterns across all operational areas and includes comparisons to similarly sized facilities. Collaborating with a Business Solutions specialist can enhance the tool's capabilities, enabling operators to improve financial outcomes, analyze workforce training opportunities and forecast staffing adjustments for new meal programs.

RB: The measurable values that food and nutrition operators use to help assess their performance vary from patient satisfaction scores to cost per patient day, and food waste percentage to retail revenue fluctuations. Understanding these values and benchmarking performance against like-size facilities are crucial for quality improvement strategy, enhancing patient experience, and managing costs and operational efficiency. Laying the groundwork to track and benchmark these statistics can be cumbersome for operators. 

Having a partner that offers solutions to support that effort is invaluable. Our exclusive Trendview^™ 360 tool analyzes variances in cost, compares facility performance and zeros in on the causes of cost shifts over time. Equally as beneficial to our customers is our cornerstone tool, Baseline^®. Partnering with our Business Solutions team to complete a Baseline^® assessment allows our customers to compare their facility to similar operations, determine areas of improvement, expose hidden costs and identify specific cost-saving opportunities, giving them a customized roadmap to a stronger fiscal future.

RB: The retail landscape has undergone significant transformation, now offering consumers 24/7 food availability, automated vending solutions, self-branded coffee shops, online ordering and delivery, cashless self-checkout and a diverse array of take-home meals and comfort foods. To enhance customer engagement and drive profitability, healthcare operators must strategically maintain staff presence during mealtimes and attract visitors to their cafés. Staying aligned with consumer preferences is essential, and this involves a comprehensive approach that includes effective signage, marketing, point-of-sale systems, equipment access, staff training and robust pricing and cost management tools to support retail menus.

The US Foods Cafessentials^® program equips foodservice operators with the latest trends, innovative concepts and streamlined retail solutions. Additionally, employing strategies such as pricing reviews, analyzing capture rates and leveraging the Impact^™ Insight tool can uncover growth opportunities. By optimizing the retail environment, operators can achieve increased revenue, reduced waste and enhanced employee engagement.

 

To learn more about how to engage in US Foods VITALS, scan the QR code: