A comparison of two measures of hospital foodservice satisfaction

Abstract

The importance of patient foodservice satisfactionThe health care industry is becoming increasingly focussed on quality improvement to meet patients' heightened demands for service excellence (Drain 2001). Patient satisfaction measurement is viewed as important in outcomes research and quality improvement efforts, as it provides a formal opportunity for feedback and demonstrates to patients that their opinions are valued by health professionals. Administrators and auditors of health care services are continuously seeking patient-reported outcomes to obtain indications of quality of care and the organisation of services. Meeting and exceeding patient expectations is essential for the provision of quality services. Food and the manner in which it is served often influences patient satisfaction with the entire hospital experience (Gregoire 1994). Establishing predictors of hospital foodservice satisfaction will assist in styling food and its service to meet patient expectations, thus influencing overall patient satisfaction with the hospital stay. A valid and reliable questionnaire is the first step towards understanding the link between patient satisfaction and expectations. The questionnairesThe Parkside Inpatient Questionnaire (PIQ) contains items rated on a five-point Likert scale from "very poor" to "very good", focussing on the patient's experience during their hospital stay. The section used as part of this study comprised overall ratings for foodservice and additional ratings for courtesy of foodservice staff, flavour and temperature of the food, menu choice and timeliness of meal delivery. Responses were scored from 1 to 5, with 1 representing the least positive response and 5 representing the most positive response.The Wesley Hospital Foodservice Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire (WHFPSQ) has 18 items rated on a fivepoint Likert scale from "always" to "never", an overall rating from "very good" to "very poor" and is specific to hospital foodservice. For comparative purposes, the scoring system for the WHFPSQ was made consistent with the PIQ, that is, 1 representing the least positive and 5 the most positive response for any individual item.

A Systematic Review of Hospital Foodservice Patient Satisfaction Studies

“…Twelve studies had a sample size <200 patients; 14,16,[20][21][22]27,28,[35][36][37][38][39] 10 studies had a sample size between 200 and 600 patients, 15,17,18,24,25,[29][30][31][32]34 and nine studies a sample size >600 patients. 3,11,13,19,23,26,29,33,40 Subjects were mostly inpatients, but in some studies discharged patients 11,14,15,21 or outpatients 21 were involved as well.…”

“…3,11,13,19,23,26,29,33,40 Subjects were mostly inpatients, but in some studies discharged patients 11,14,15,21 or outpatients 21 were involved as well. None of the trials reports any information about the power of the study.…”

“…Seven studies used questionnaires consisting of fewer than 10 items, 16,19,22,23,28,32,33 11 studies used questionnaires with 10 to 20 items, 3,11,15,17,18,20,24,25,26,34,37 and four studies used questionnaires consisting of more than 20 items. 4,13,35,40 Only one study did not report the number of items on the questionnaire.…”

“…Knowledge of patients' expectations is an essential baseline for monitoring and measuring the effect of foodservice innovations or patients' foodservice satisfaction outcomes. 15 The purpose of this study was to retrieve and review the literature describing patients' satisfaction with hospital foodservices.…”

What do patients value in the hospital meal experience?

“…The authors note that food quality was the best predictor of patient 22 satisfaction, followed by customization and attitude of the staff who deliver menus. An Australian 23 group led by Capra (Wright et al 2003;Capra et al, 2005) developed an Acute Care Hospital 24…”