ALPHARETTA, Ga.–There’s no reason the hospital foodservice experience should be different than it is outside of a medical facility. In fact, when foodservice management at Community Health System (Community) learned about a mobile food and beverage (F&B) application that would provide High Return Hospitality to staff and visitors alike, it could not wait to try out the future-forward technology.
During the pandemic, the multi-hospital healthcare system with over 1,270 licensed beds, more than 10,000 employees and 2,500 affiliated providers, based in Fresno County, California, experienced the challenge of supporting staff members and healthcare providers making the most of limited meal breaks. To improve service, this Community Health System decided to pilot the Agilysys OnDemand solution to simplify and expedite their ordering, payment and pickup processes. Specifically: Agilysys OnDemand makes it fast and easy to view, order and pay for food and beverage orders in advance, on personal or company devices. Mobile access and convenience stimulate impulse buys, increase order volumes, raise check values and decrease staff workload through self-service. OnDemand also ensures meals are ready for staff and providers at the start of their meal break, eliminating standing in line to order and/or wait for their meal to be prepared.
Before Agilysys OnDemand, Community staff, providers and guests used an alternate system for food ordering, but the service was costly and difficult to manage. With Agilysys OnDemand, foodservice sales increased by 78.9% at one hospital location, ensuring that more staff and guests were, and continue to be, pleased with the improvements the solution offered. For Nutrition & Dining staff, another significant benefit has been the ability to quickly “86” unavailable items. This process took up to a week prior to implementing OnDemand.
Agilysys solutions are not new to the hospital. Before implementing Agilysys OnDemand, Community already relied upon the flexible, enterprise-class point-of-sale (POS) InfoGenesis solution from Agilysys to streamline food & beverage operations, take advantage of real-time reporting and easily offer discounts to staff.
“Employees can easily order and enjoy their meals, fresh at pick up, with the flexibility to pay with Payroll Deduct, or with a credit card, all from their mobile device,” said Alison Wells, Senior Business Analyst at Community. “With the ability to order ahead and receive text alerts when their food is ready, Agilysys OnDemand is a game-changer for patient care staff to actually eat and relax on their 30 minute-meal breaks. We have not only been able to raise the bar on hospital food but also on overall experience.”
Staff members aren’t the only ones taking advantage of the food and beverage Community has to offer.
“Employees, providers, patients, visitors and even community members enjoy our foodservice, including walkup and QR code ordering from our Goodness Authentic Cuisine food truck, which changes the menu with the seasons,” said Andrew Skaf, Foodservice Manager at Community Health System, Clovis Community Medical Center. “Agilysys OnDemand has enabled us to truly engage with the entire community – as the name of our facility implies.”
In 2023 alone, the medical facility has satisfied more than 100,000 orders, which has led to increased staff morale. Further, with a greater focus on convenience, security and safety of contactless payments, these platforms make it easy to accept and track cashless transactions, whenever and wherever customers are located.
“Mobile is the new ordering and payment expectation for hospital workers and visitors,” said Jamie Hodgson, vice president of sales, Agilysys. “For healthcare facilities like Community, our solutions help lower health and security risks, while providing speed and convenience of ordering and paying from a mobile device.”
About Community Health System
Community Health System has grown to include: Community Medical Centers’ four hospitals, which provide the majority of Fresno County’s hospital care and expertise typically found only in larger cities; Community Provider Network, our physician support division that includes Community Health Partners, a fast-growing medical foundation consisting of primary and specialty care providers; and Community Care Health, one of the region’s largest HMO health plans.
About Agilysys
Agilysys exclusively delivers state-of-the-art software solutions and services that help organizations achieve High Return Hospitality™ by maximizing Return on Experience (ROE) through interactions that make ‘personal’ profitable. Customers around the world use Agilysys Property Management Systems (PMS), Point-of-Sale (POS) solutions and Inventory and Procurement (I&P) systems to consistently delight guests, retain staff and grow margins. Agilysys’ 100% hospitality customer base includes branded and independent hotels; multi-amenity resorts; casinos; property, hotel and resort management companies; cruise lines; corporate dining providers; higher education campus dining providers; food service management companies; hospitals; lifestyle communities; senior living facilities; stadiums; and theme parks. www.agilysys.com
