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(January 4, 2007) - When Heritage Valley Health System began to measure patient satisfaction in 2001, questions pertaining to food scored near the bottom. Steve Mihalick, director of dietetics at Heritage Valley, queried hospitals that were best in practice for advice. The successful ones were using room service, similar to hotels, which allows patients to order the food they want when they want to eat instead of limited choices at set times. By implementing room service, meal satisfaction at both Heritage Valley hospitals soared to the top almost immediately.

Coupled with improved patient satisfaction, room service has successfully created a cost reduction by eliminating late and wasted trays and decreasing wasted food. Recently, patients at Heritage Valley Beaver rated the courtesy of the person serving the food number one in the nation as identified by Press Ganey, a national measurement firm measuring 946 hospitals nationally. Heritage Valley’s Sewickley campus has sustained top ratings over 18 months.

This program is successful because of the hospital’s dietetics staff. Room service transformed the employees, who had previously worked in a decades old tray line system, into professionals with roles that promoted accountability and service excellence. Employees who had previously spent the majority of their time hidden from view in the kitchen suddenly became a vital and visible part of the patient’s continuum of care. The positive attitude and encouragement provided by the hostesses have enhanced the patient’s hospital experience.

Hostesses wear embroidered Heritage green vests and white shirts with black slacks. Patients frequently comment on the crisp and professional appearance of the hostesses.

“We began room service with a goal of not only achieving high scores, but sustaining the scores through relentless pursuit of continual improvement on the system,” said Mihalick. “Our goal is to create an environment that demands rapid improvement and attention to detail that makes the difference between good meal delivery and excellent meal delivery. Simple satisfaction may create a short-lived increase in patient satisfaction, but without an emphasis on continual improvement, patient satisfaction will eventually decrease.”

The key to sustained success at both Heritage Valley hospitals is due to streamlining processes using Six Sigma methodology. A year following implementation of room service, a Lean Six Sigma project to further streamline the program began. The project focused on hard dollar savings by minimizing menu items that were costly, took a long time to prepare, and were infrequently ordered. The possible gains from this project include increased patient satisfaction through the delivery of meals most desired by patients in a quicker, more efficient manner and an estimated $40,000 per year in cost reduction.