AHF’s Self-Operated Project Team has just released a brand-new resource to assist self-operators in responding to contractor threats. Now more than ever AHF has seen a rise in contractor threats and self-operators are having to defend their department and value to their administrators as financial, labor, and resources pressures continue to mount. AHF's new guide will make sure that operators can have a robust well-thought-out response ready at hand.
The Team developed a toolkit that operators can use to build a direct response to a contract bid to take over food and nutrition services. The toolkit includes:
- An outline of a process to assess and respond to potential threats
- A template for a written response
- A template for an executive PowerPoint presentation
Operator members will be guided through three main sections to help them build a detailed proposal that will prove the value of remaining self-operated.
Section one guides operators through the process of defining the threat and their current state, identifying their desired state, and identifying performance gaps. It will assist operators in building out the underlying structure of their proposal and the deliverables to be presented to executives.
From there, operators will start to fill out the actual proposal in section two of the guide.
The third section of the toolkit is the “Executive PowerPoint Presentation”. The PPT should be completed last and will complement the developed proposal.
Operators are encouraged to use AHF’s other resources, such as Benchmarking Express, to help build out a robust and effective response to a contractor threat. We encourage operator members to remain “ready” for contractor bids by building out a proposal and utilizing all our available resources to reinforce the value of their self-operation. Operators should be communicating regularly with their C-suite about their accomplishments and their department's value.
About AHF’s Self-Operated Project Team
AHF’s Self-Operated Project Team mission is to support, encourage, and engage facilities to be self-operated or stay self-operated. Additional resources, templates, guides, and publications can be accessed here: https://healthcarefoodservice.org/self-op-program-member-resources. Here are a few resources of note from The Team:
Contractor Threat Resources
- AHF’s Responding to Contractor Threat Template (Toolkit)
- AHF’s Benchmarking ExpressTM Program (free to operator members)
- The AHF "SOS Program" - On-demand support
- Contract Management Vs. Self-Operated Food & Nutrition
- Making An Informed Decision about Contract Management
- Asking the Hard Questions about Outsourcing Foodservice
- Facility SWOT Analysis
Financial Resources
- Best Practices in Financial Management for Food & Nutrition Services
- AHF’s Benchmarking ExpressTM Program (free to operator members)
Operational Resources:
- AHF’s 7 Operational Standards of Food & Nutrition Services
- AHF Clinical Nutrition Management Section
- Monthly/Quarterly Annual Reporting PPT Template
- Monthly Scorecard and reporting dashboard templates
- Daily/Weekly Success Checklist
- Facility SWOT Analysis
- Patient Engagement Checklist
- Retail Engagement Checklist
Regulatory Resources:
- AHF Regulatory Resource Center
- Daily/Weekly Success Checklist
Coming Soon:
- Emergency Preparedness Guide(s)
- Zero Based Staffing Guide(s)