A story in Kaiser Health News Caught my eye this AM:
I could not resist citing a quote like this:
Behind the scenes, UNC has installed a sous-vide cooking system, often used in fine restaurants, which cooks food in airtight plastic submerged in water baths to ensure food are cooked to the exact temperature. The system speeds delivery service since food is partly cooked and chefs can finish it on a grill after an order is placed.
Or this:
“It’s been a game changer for us,” said Angelo Mojica, director of food and nutrition services at UNC. He said patient satisfaction scores, which he tracks every day on a television monitor in the kitchen, have soared to 99 percentile. He parses those ratings by hospital floor and even by type of room — private or semi-private. Like doctors, food service managers, including Mojica, make daily “rounds” to talk to patients about their dining needs and preferences.
OK, I get the notion of better food equals more consumption and less waste. I also completely accept the notion of patient satisfaction as an end, and not a means to an end. However, once we get to the point of serving ostrich burgers, arugula pesto, and shrimp cocktails on the wards, better than your local gourmet sandwich shop, we have crossed a threshold.
Please tell me this is not about playing to the metrics. Tell me I am wrong?
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