$2.$ Case Study Problem $8$ from Inlet Isles eBook:

You$$ve read the Inlet Isles story. Remember that at Inlet Isles, patients are given a paper menu on which they indicate their food choices. Inlet Isles uses the traditional $$tray line$$ service instead of the more modern $$room service$$ concept. At Inlet Isles, Nancy notes that almost $30$ percent of patients order additional food after their delivered tray. This results in many second trays, increased food costs, and exhaustion for the person preparing the additional trays. Nancy checks with other hospitals and finds that the number of late trays $($trays sent after usual meal service$)$ is between $5-10\%$ and consists mainly of newly admitted individuals or those coming off liquid diets. In Nancy$$s case, she thinks this indicates that patients who received their trays do not like what they got.

a$.$ What is the benchmark used in this problem?

b$.$ Is it an internal or external benchmark?

c$.$ Based on the information in the case study $($Inlet Isles$),$ why do you suspect that patients are rejecting the food being sent and requesting additional food?

d$.$ Why might patients not fill out their menus? How might you investigate this situation to determine why patients aren$$t filling out their menus? $$

e$.$ Assume that you completed a patient survey and were able to identify one or two causes for the problem. Select one cause and indicate what could be done to increase the percentage of marked menus. Identify alternatives and discuss the pros and cons of each alternative. Remember that each alternative must be possible within the context of this case. $$

f$.$ What final solution $($or set of solutions$)$ would you select to deal with this problem and why?