General Winning Tips For Food Service Professionals  

• Are you exercising?  Remember, you didn't select the easiest way to make a living.  You need to exercise (if physically possible) to maintain peak mental and physical performance.  It does make a difference.  Directors that don't exercise tend to not be at their best.

• Be careful not to spend all your time in "out-of-department" meetings.  Directors that do, tend to have departments that are not a 10.

• Your cafeteria management team (if any) should be "on the floor", in the cafe trouble-shooting and "schmoozing" customers during the peak period at lunch.  Facilities that ignore this "rule of thumb" tend to have cafeterias full of glitches, such as long lines, etc..

• Are you holding people accountable?  You can't win (get to 10) unless you do.  I recently sent out 2 Hints & Tips E-mail's to help you with this issue.  If you lost them, E-mail us and we'll send them to you again.

• Don't forget to honestly praise as many people per day as you can.  What get's praised get's repeated.  In fact, do you have an incentive program?  If you want one, let us know via e-mail.  It's free.

• Recently a hospital cashier was caught stealing lots of money every day.  Also, a chef and storeroom person were caught loading up their van.  A solution is to install cameras, ASAP, over cash registers, counting rooms, and the back dock and storeroom.  How can you maintain optimum financial status without security?

• Are you controlling waste and leftovers?  Winners do.  In many of my Destination 10 facilities we are saving 20 to 50K per year by reducing the size of portions, or in some cases simply enforcing patient tray portion standards.  The secret is using a tiny fruit dish, sometimes called a "monkey dish."  You can't overfill a tiny side dish.

• What is your net cost per patient day?  If it's above $26.75, you should begin to track it closer.  One Catholic hospital organization just directed everyone to go down to $21.75.  Hence, lot's of their FSD's are scrambling to save money.  Minimizing waste and leftovers was the first place they looked for savings.  And, Eurika - they saved lot's of money.

          Cost per patient day is computed by the following formula: 

 If you use some other method for calculating net cost, or add out-patient visits, then the "real", actual, net cost per patient day numbers listed above can't be compared to your numbers.  The average seems to be about $26.75 or close to it.  If you're above $26.75, using the above method, I would be investigating why if I were you.  Remember this is for hospitals, not long term care.  Always be prepared to justify why you are different than the average.  And, of course always know exactly where you are financially.  Don't ever be blindsided and surprised by financial information from your administrator. Also, remember that no hospitals are exactly the same.  To force hospital A to have the exact same net cost per patient day as hospital B is not really fair.  Net cost per patient day numbers should be considered averages as opposed to absolute bench marks. 

Don Miller, R.D., C.E.C.
Nancy Yezzi, R.D., L.D.
Bill Klein, C.I.C.
Success Coaches

Don Miller and Associates
346 Crestview Drive
Bonita, CA 91902
(619) 656-2100 PST
(619) 656-1321 fax
chefdon@cox.net
http://www.chefdon.com