Health System Automates HACCP Compliance and Documentation, Assuring a Higher Level of Food Safety and Quality, While Lowering Costs

The Company
This information relates to a major hospital system and one of the largest employers in its region. The health system is accredited by the Joint Commission and is regarded today as one of the premier hospital systems in the nation. This customer seeks to provide the highest levels of patient care and services while constantly improving operational efficiency to reduce costs.

The Challenge
Increasing concerns about foodborne illness risks prompted the health system to improve the level of compliance with FDA, HACCP, and corporate foodservice sanitation guidelines—practices essential to serving safe food. Compliance programs were manual and very time-consuming to manage effectively. Employees were trained, but there was no way to assure compliance and validity of the data collected because of the potential for “dry lab”—the recording of process or temperature data that was not actually measured. The impact on patients’ health in the event of a mistake could be very harmful given their compromised immunity. The resulting damage to the corporation’s reputation could be devastating.

The Solution
The health system selected the HACCP Professional II system because it was mobile and easily tailored to match the complicated processes and menus needed to get food safely from the kitchen to the patient. The PDA software was easy to use with clear text, graphics, and layers of interactive help, as well as an online trainer and manager. Temperatures were measured using the Bluetooth digital thermometer, and out-of-standard situations were dealt with in real time by means of directed corrective actions.

The Benefits
The system was easily tailored to map to the health system’s complex cook-chill and cook-serve processes, checklists, and menus, completely eliminating paperwork. Within a day, chefs, managers, and staff were trained to use the system to automatically measure and record process and temperature data within seconds. Management was able to pre-program individual PDAs so that specific menus were displayed at each location daily, thereby eliminating errors and saving time. “Dry lab” was addressed because HACCP Professional II provided an accurate audit trail with user name, date, and time stamps for all process entries and temperature data, thereby authenticating and validating key data required for corporate and government audits, reports, and legal actions. The system reduced training and supervision time by enabling managers to direct a broader range of activities with new checklists for increased security, sanitation, and safety, and optimized preventive maintenance and equipment run time. Overall efficiency, productivity, morale, and customer satisfaction increased substantially because managers were able to spend more time with staff and patients. Direct costs were reduced by over $24,000 annually—analyzed using an activity-based cost review, which demonstrated nearly a 400% return on investment. Additional savings are expected from improved equipment utilization and lower risk management costs. Of far greater value was the demonstrable and ongoing reduction in patient risk.

« back to case studies