A hospital’s food & nutrition services are one of the biggest influences on patient experience, employee engagement, and the overall hospital culture. However, it can be very difficult to manage the satisfaction of patients, staff, and visitors, all of whom bring their own set of expectations and needs. This is why a well-trained, engaged foodservice team is crucial in a time when labor shortages are unrelenting.

Many of these trends and challenges that hospitals are facing can be found in The 2024 State of the Healthcare Foodservice Industry Report, including:

  • 74% of foodservice operators’ annual food and beverage spend tops $1 million annually, a 14% increase from 2023
  • About 1/3rd of operators have risen retail pricing by 9% or more
  • Only 29% of healthcare foodservice teams have reported an increase in staffing over the past year, compared to 37% who reported a decrease in staffing.
  • 31% of customers in residential dining communities are not satisfied with their program

With the weight that patient satisfaction scores have on a health system’s growth and financial outcomes, administrators often turn to outside vendors for guidance and subject matter expertise. While outsourcing is often an effective solution, it still leaves administrators with two questions:

“Am I getting what I’m paying for? How can I be sure?”

If you outsource dining and nutrition services, a third-party strategic partner can make a significant difference. Hospital administrators across the country turn to Innovative Hospitality Solutions (IHS) as an independent advocate to ensure alignment with system goals, optimize financial outcomes, enforce contract compliance, and drive continuous improvement while maximizing the value received from the contracted provider. Since we never contract with third-party vendors, we can remain fully objective and focused solely on your organization’s success. Simply put, our goal is to make your dining and nutrition services a competitive advantage for your hospital, aligned with your organizations mission and values.

Since 2006, Innovative Hospitality Solutions has developed a comprehensive range of services tailored to hospital and health systems’ specific needs. We understand that food and nutrition services are critical to survey results and play a part in employee retention, patient experience, and financial outcomes. We focus on what makes your culture unique and our recommendations are designed to enhance it.

How do we support healthcare systems that outsource? IHS leads operational assessments that begin by understanding the current state. We clarify your expectations, identify what is working well, and outline key areas of concern. Next, we conduct a thorough review of the existing contract and evaluate performance across patient dining, employee and guest meals, and financial metrics.

Following this assessment, IHS works with your provider to revise the existing agreement. Our goal is to ensure that operational and financial requirements are clearly defined and that enforceable accountability measures are in place for all key performance areas. From there we help with strategic planning, acquiring & adapting to customer feedback, and more.

With IHS, you also get access to CrossCheck, an independent third party quality assurance company. CrossCheck is a customizable, proprietary QA platform that evaluates performance and compliance across key domains, such as food and physical safety, retail execution, marketing, technology, and nutrition services. Trained evaluators conduct on-site reviews, and all action plans are tracked digitally to ensure follow-through and continuous improvement.

IHS will give you confidence that your outsourcing provider is delivering on their contractual obligations and meeting your expectations. We act as your food and nutrition services partner, focused on driving continuous innovation and ensuring that vendor promises become—and remain—a consistent part of your daily operations.