Client Success Story - Greenville Hospital System

A More Efficient Diet Office

Before GHS University Medical Center implemented CBORD's Bedside Menu Entry (BME) and Nutrition Service Suite® (NSS), it processed meal figures manually. Kim Davis, RD Systems Administrator, worked with GHS's previous system. "We provided a Nutrition Host program with a seven-day selective menu," she recalls. "Hosts filled out paper menus, circling selections and handwriting additional items on the menus for patients." After menus were filled out, write-in items were tallied by hand, but main meal selections were not. "We would guess on production for the main 'house meal' based on census," Davis explains.

BME, in conjunction with NSS, allows nutrition hosts to collect and record patient menu choices quickly at bedside on handheld computers, as opposed to paper menus. "Nutrition hosts used to carry twelve standard menus to make selections with patients," explains Davis. "BME allows us to obtain meal selections for dinner today, as well as breakfast and lunch tomorrow."

After meal selections are recorded on the handheld devices, patient information is downloaded to a desktop computer that uses NSS to make recording and analyzing data easy. Both meal and write-in tallies can be calculated with the click of a button, providing the diet office with up-to-date and accurate meal counts.

NSS automated many of GHS's daily tasks in the diet office, making processes more efficient and reliable. "We completed a transaction study of the main contact in the diet office, identifying which person was responsible for fielding all phone calls, printing tray tickets, reports, etc.," says Davis. "In an eighthour shift prior to implementation of the CBORD® system, the phone clerk performed an average of 300 manual transactions, ranging from admitting and discharging patients to changing a diet order. After the CBORD system was in place, the phone clerk performed only thirty-one transactions in eight hours, most being items that do not interface, such as free text messages."

More Satisfaction and Higher Press Ganey Scores

Patients appreciate that they can choose meals closer to serving times, and that with NSS, menus reflect their preferences and dietary requirements. "We have increased our Press Ganey mean meal score by two points since implementation," says Davis. "The individualization of patient menus, creating a meal based on diet order, allergies, and preferences, has been invaluable to us."

The system has also increased satisfaction among employees at GHS. "Our employee turnover rate has decreased dramatically, as well as the number of call-ins," explains Davis.

Dramatic Cost Savings

Increased patient satisfaction and more accurate tallies are two of the main ways that implementation of the CBORD systems has helped GHS decrease the average cost per tray from $1.86 to $1.74. "We had $20,000 in cost savings in patient trays within the first six months of go-live," Davis shared excitedly. The reduction in employee turnover and increased efficiency of the diet office due to automation have also helped in cost savings.

Reliable Partnership and Support

"I enjoy working with the CBORD system in our facility and showcasing the accomplishments we have made with the system," says Davis. "We have dramatically improved patient care. I feel that I have made numerous lasting friendships with many employees at CBORD, and I look forward to growing along with them as they continue to provide new functionality that will allow us to expand our services."