Linda Clay, Guest Blogger- Necessity is the mother of Innovation

This week I am please to have Linda Clay, Director of Food and Nutrition at Lahey Hospital and Medical center to blog about "Necessity is the mother of Innovation" 

Front row (Left to Right): Brandon, Justin, Matt , Linda
Back row (Left to right): Darrin and Matt S 

This week we are upgrading our Healthtouch System as a beta site.  Healthtouch is our Room Service Software system that allows us to take orders from patients over the phone, while being compliant with special diet restrictions.  The system allows us to transmit orders to various stations in the kitchen so we know what to prepare and assemble.  It works just like hotel room service. 

Lahey Hospital and Medical Center was the pioneer for this system.  It was originally just a cash register system but one of the managers here asked if MCR (the company that provides Healthtouch) wanted to see the room service program, and like magic an innovation was born.  Today there are 500 Room Service hospitals and hospital systems in North America, and MCR became a partner with Sodexo.  

I was at the second hospital to have MCR’s system, and because of the need to find more efficiencies, I was asked if we could cook our sister hospital’s meals  and drive them  13 miles down the road, otherwise known as “not such a good idea”.  I was sure there had to be some other efficiency, so I asked MCR if we could send patient orders over the hospital network to print in that kitchen 13 miles away.  They said yes and another innovation was born.  Today there are huge hospital systems using these systems.

What is so unique about Room Service and Healthtouch is that they were both innovations from the bottom up.  Each new user added new ideas and innovations.  It’s really a privilege to really watch real innovation happen over the past 18 years and to see the collective ideas of so many become realized.  

Linda Clay

Director of Food and Nutrition