Beyond the Tray: Proving the Value of Self-Operated Healthcare Foodservice

Healthcare food and nutrition leaders are under increasing pressure to improve the patient experience while managing labor challenges, financial constraints, rising costs, and growing operational complexity.  For self-operated programs, demonstrating value requires more than controlling expenses, it requires connecting operational performance to the experience of patients and the priorities of the organization.

This session explores how healthcare foodservice leaders can use patient feedback, meal-ordering and delivery data, financial performance, productivity measures, and operational benchmarks to identify opportunities and drive meaningful improvement. Participants will also learn how these measures can help demonstrate the strategic value of self-operation, strengthen partnerships with Nursing and executive leadership, and build the case for continued investment in food and nutrition services.

Learning Objectives 

  • Identify key financial, operational, and patient experience measures that demonstrate the value of a self-operated food and nutrition program.
  • Connect patient feedback with meal-ordering, production, and delivery data to identify root causes of service failures and improvement opportunities.  Apply data and benchmarking to prioritize operational improvements in areas such as labor, technology, workflow, and service delivery.  
  • Communicate the value of food and nutrition services to executive and clinical leadership using outcomes that align with broader organizational priorities. 
  • Understand the importance of networking with AHF and utilizing resources like the AHF SOS program.
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  • Duration:  1 hour 
  • Accreditation: 1.0 CEU - ANFP & CDR
  • Type: Monthly Webinar

This webinar is exclusively for AHF Members

Interested in watching the webinar recording and earning CEUS? 

On demand recordings of our webinars are available exclusively for AHF members. Join today to have access to our monthly webinars and coffee talks and start earning CEUs on your schedule. 

Visit AHF's website for more information about membership and how to join. 

This webinar is generously supported by the Following AHF Annual Sponsors:

MEET THE SPEAKER:

John Brad Morrow
Associate Vice President, Hospitality Services 
UAB Medicine
John Brad Morrow is Associate Vice President of Hospitality Services at UAB Medicine, where he leads a diverse portfolio spanning Food and Nutrition Services, Clinical Nutrition, and Guest Services.   

With more than 20 years of leadership experience and 15 years at UAB Medicine, John has built his career around challenging the status quo and reimagining what hospitality can look like in healthcare. 

His work focuses on transforming complex operations through innovation, technology, data-driven decision-making, and an uncompromising focus on the patient and guest experience.  He is particularly passionate about advancing self-operated healthcare foodservice and demonstrating the strategic, financial, and experiential value these programs bring to healthcare organizations. 

John holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of North Alabama and a Master of Science in Healthcare Quality and Patient Safety from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.  He is actively involved with the Association for Healthcare Foodservice (AHF) and the Healthcare Support Services Foundation (HSSF), where he shares his passion for developing leaders, advancing the profession, and shaping the future of healthcare hospitality.

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