A platform tailored to the needs
Although the hospital already had its own software for the management of diets, it was detected that there were important circuits that were not covered, among which were food allergies; the choice of menu; the control of allergens or the identification and traceability of dishes. Given this situation and the commitment of Smart Hospital Cantabria as a company awarded the restoration service to offer the menu choice to patients with 'normal diet', it was decided to implement the DietTools platform, which was already underway at Laredo Hospital from the same community. The range of diets that can be prescribed from DietTools covers about 60, from normal to specific diets for more complicated pathologies or for the UTCA (Unit of eating disorders).
The new software makes the work of nursing professionals and kitchen staff more efficient, by streamlining the way in which a personalized diet is prescribed to each patient and facilitating the process of calculating the needs of each menu. The process of implementing the platform has also been used to modify the menus, as they were in force in the centre for many years, so they have been replaced by new ones. The renovation of the Hospital's IT infrastructure has also taken place: work station, application servers and database; DietTools has been integrated with the Hospital's corporate applications (HIS patient census, user accreditation, etc.) using standard HL7 messaging; and trainings have been given to the personnel involved, such as nurses, computer scientists, chefs, supervisors, pinches, chefs and staff of the operating companies.
The Hospital has dedicated resources of its staff; Management, Nursing, and IT especially, to adapt the flows, work the diets in the different areas of the Hospital, to integrate the application with the corporate systems (HIS, GACELA, etc.) following the standards established in HUMV / SCS, and to put it on going.
A successful balance
After the implementation of the system, the feedback has been great: "It has been a resounding success; according to the data, diets are being prescribed from 58 different nursing units serving about 750 trays of food per dose, what makes an average of 3,000 daily trays ", explains Rafael Sedeño, product manager of DietTools in Dominion.
"In a year we calculate that DietTools has controlled the nutritional process of more than 1,000,000 trays at the Hospital Marqués de Valdecilla and about 75,000 patients have been able to make the choice of their menu," says Rafael Sedeño.
DietTools has an intense journey of implementations, since in addition to the cases cited, the team is working on large open projects for the installation and commissioning of software in public hospitals in the province of Jaén, Hospital Can Misses de Ibiza, Rodriguez Lafora of Madrid and a Children's Hospital Mar de Plata Argentina.
