By Marissa Trout / Special to Healthcare Facilities Today

In healthcare, patient needs always come first. It's critical to make sure they get the highest quality care during their stay and that every service is efficient and enhances patient satisfaction.

But in recent years, economic challenges and regulatory changes have shrunk budgets and made cost control a higher priority than it has ever been in the past. To stay afloat, healthcare facilities have had to find innovative ways to be more efficient and save money -- all without sacrificing patient care.

Ideally, improvement opportunities yield maximum cost-savings with minimal implementation effort and disruption. In this regard, food waste reduction is low hanging fruit.

Waste not, want not

So goes the old proverb. Yet, food waste is excessive in U.S. healthcare facilities. It’s estimated between 10 percent and 15 percent of a hospital’s waste stream comes from inefficient food production and consumption. 1/3 of all food produced in the world is wasted. Over 2 billion tons per year, ~ US $936 billion, at market value. (Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. “Food wastage footprint & Climate Change (2015)). The food Americans waste every day is enough to fill at least the Rose Bowl Stadium (and maybe more). (Source: American Wasteland).

Inefficient purchasing and inventory control, poor preparation and production procedures, and outdated ordering and menu options all contribute to the two to three pounds of food waste per bed per day. For healthcare facilities, food waste equates to flushing money down the drain — depleting budgets and diverting funds that could be used for other vital programs.

Food waste also interferes with sustainability goals. Excessive waste means more rotting food in landfills, which increases the amount of methane (which is much more toxic than carbon dioxide) gas emissions into the environment.

Better managing food production and reducing waste in healthcare facility food service programs has huge savings potential — according to experts as much as two percent to six percent of the food purchasing budget! Avoiding food waste also minimizes the facility’s environmental footprint.

Drive savings through more efficient operations

So what's the recipe for success in waste management? The first thing to be done is assess the extent of the waste -- how much is there and how much is it costing? Find out what is being wasted and why, so teams can understand the waste, set goals, and track improvement. Food waste is a behavioral problem. Successful prevention requires everyone to consistently repeat the right behavior at scale. Changing team behavior requires engaging employees, raising awareness, and celebrating progress. (Source: LeanPath).

Focus on prevention first. The preferred pathway for food waste is: source reduction, feed hungry people, feed animals, industrial uses, composting, and lastly landfill. (Source: www.epa.gov/foodrecoverychallenge).

Data needs to be collected, monitored, and analyzed. Is too much product being purchased, are employees wasting food during preparation, are recipes not being followed, are foods not selling or patient trays being returned?

Without professional help, this level of food waste monitoring can be a challenging task. Luckily, there are expert food service companies and automated technology and tools to help pinpoint sources of waste, measure it (weighing food loss for example), and assign a dollar value to it.

Tracking and measuring food waste offers a clear snapshot of daily waste, uncovers opportunities for improvement, and provides a solid base from which to benchmark efforts.

Having such visibility allows food service operators to continually adjust processes and programs to help reduce the volume of surplus food prepared, recover wasted budget dollars, and minimize landfill contributions.

Take control with best practice food processes and systems

As with regular manufacturing operations, healthcare food service includes systems and processes that can be inefficient. From forecasting to purchasing, preparation to production, inventory control to food delivery, every step needs to be as efficient as possible.

Establishing best practice systems and process to create a leaner and more cost-effective food service operation is ideal. Here are some areas to focus on to prevent costly food waste:

Forecasting

Avoiding waste to begin with is always preferred. Accurate forecasting is key to ensuring the correct amount of food is being purchased and produced daily. Purchase based on anticipated need and produce as needed. Logging and analyzing historical data to identify patterns and habits helps improve forecasting and reduce overproduction.  

Purchasing

The trend today is on healthier, better quality food made fresh. Sourcing seasonal products and raw ingredients from local vendors and buying “just in time” helps produce better quality food. It's also more cost effective in the long run. Not only is there less waste and reduced costs, there's support for the community and the ability to offer more nutritious food for patients, guests, and employees.

Preparation

Make sure staff is aware of the amount of waste produced and the goals for improvement. Invest in training them on proper food preparation, using as much of the product as possible and leveraging the same products in different ways for different meals. All these best practices help trim waste.

Pre-prepared ingredients are easier and more convenient. However, there is a quality and cost component associated with using these items. With a renewed focus on healthy and sustainable eating, fresh ingredients are usually better quality, more nutritious, and sometimes even less expensive. However, fresh ingredients can take more resources to prepare. Take a close look at what best fits your needs and budget.

Overproduction

The last thing healthcare facilities want to do is run out of food. However, overproduction is one of the leading causes of industry food waste. Some facilities throw away up to 10 percent of prepared food before it even makes it to the plate.

Batch cooking items throughout the day instead of cooking mass quantities at one time enhances the quality of the food as well as reduces the volume of overproduced food.

Strict adherence to scaled recipes is an easy way to meet nutritional requirements and save money at the same time.

Also, pay attention to portioning — in retail and on the patient and resident side. Correct portioning can improve nutritional compliance and reduce uneaten food.

Focus on fresh, quality food

At the end of the day, people want good looking and good tasting food. If it looks mass produced, overcooked, or plain unattractive, it won't get purchased or eaten.

With the focus on healthier eating these days, most healthcare facilities are committed to improving the nutritional profile of food they serve to patients, guests, and staff. Preparing foods made from fresh, locally-sourced ingredients rather than relying on packaged and convenience ingredients is a way to achieve this.

Simpler, healthier eating can also be attributed to better and faster patient outcomes and reduced readmissions -- which can lead to improved satisfaction scores and increased patronage.  

Order up room service

Traditionally, patients order meals the day before and are served at set times. The problem with this model is it creates a lot of waste. By the time the food is delivered, patients might be in a procedure, sleeping, or even discharged. They might have been changed to a therapeutic diet or might not be very hungry.

By switching to room-service style order and delivery, patients choose what they want, when they want. Not only does this reduce the amount of patient trays you need to produce each day and reduce the cost per tray, it also decreases the number of returned trays with uneaten food.

Expanded menus with made-to-order offerings and smaller portion options further reduce waste and also promote healthier eating.   

Leverage professionals

Although there are many technology tools available, developing an effective waste reduction strategy can be time intensive for resource-strapped healthcare and senior living facilities. It can be done, but for maximum improvement, waste data must be continuously tracked and monitored and insights applied daily.

Food service professionals such as ABM Healthcare can advise and help design, implement, and manage an innovative solution that has been customized for an organization's specific needs and goals. By letting experts "own" the waste management program, facilities can increase efficiency, save money, and enhance sustainability while remaining focused on their core competency – providing the best possible experience and care to patients and residents.

Waste management is just one component of a multi-faceted, cost-efficient food service program. Talk to a professional to find out how to integrate it into existing operations. Other key elements to cutting costs, streamlining operations, and improving patient and resident satisfaction include nutrition management, culinary management, quality control, patient services, and retail dining services.

Mercy Medical Center - Des Moines reduces food waste by 81 percent with waste management program

Mercy Medical Center - Des Moines was founded in 1893 and is the longest continually-operating hospital in Des Moines. Like many others, though, the large healthcare facility was struggling with a limited budget, high costs, and low satisfaction when it came to food service.

To combat these challenges, Mercy Medical Center was determined to revamp its food service program to be more cost efficient, profitable, and socially and environmentally responsible. Working with partner ABM Healthcare, Mercy Medical Center introduced lean food production methodology, improved staffing, and state-of-the-art best practice processes, programs, and tools.

One of the most impactful changes was the implementation of a custom food waste prevention program. Leveraging technology from industry leader LeanPath®, Mercy Medical Center now automatically captures and measures all food losses, quantifies it in dollar amounts, and has complete visibility into its food operations.

Analyzing this data daily, they are able to track the number of food transactions, pinpoint the top overproduced food items, and much more. Knowing what food is being wasted and where has allowed them to adjust their ordering, production, scheduling, and inventory processes accordingly.

With ABM managing the system full-time, Mercy Medical Center has reduced its pre-consumer food waste by 81 percent. This is a cumulative total of 219,641 pounds of food waste saved since the beginning of the program in 2009.

In terms of dollars and cents —the program has saved them thousands of dollars a month and has more than paid for itself. When the program was started, Mercy Medical Center was losing almost $18,000 a month to food waste. As of May 2016, that number now averages $3,000 to $4,000 month.

On the sustainability front, Mercy Medical Center’s waste reduction equates to avoiding CO2 emissions from 192 barrels oil or 9,307 gallons of gas.

The costs savings, operational efficiencies, and productivity improvements have also allowed Mercy Medical Center to reduce the number of FTEs without affecting patient care services. And, food quality and patient satisfaction scores have been elevated.

Marissa Trout, MS, RDN, CD, is the Food & Nutrition Services Project Manager, for ABM Healthcare.