Consumers' perceptions of hospital food and dietary services.

Consumers' perceptions of the quality of hospital food, food-related service, clinical service, and their importance were determined through telephone interviews with 223 adults randomly selected from an urban county in Ohio. Respondents (greater than 65%) indicated that hospital food was of good quality for characteristics of taste, aroma, appearance, tenderness, cold temperature, freshness, and nutrient value. A substantial majority (greater than 74%) said that foodservice was dependable and accurate and that foodservice employees were helpful, cheerful, and considerate. These food and service characteristics were thought (greater than 71%) to be important to hospital meals, and a very large number (greater than 87%) of respondents considered these characteristics to be important to their hospitalization. About half (50.2%) viewed them as important in selecting a hospital. More than 82% thought registered dietitians were informative, helpful, and available to educate patients. Almost all (greater than 95%) considered nutrition counseling important to health care in the community. Of 17 quality characteristics considered, 14 were positively correlated (p less than .05) with the level of satisfaction with hospitalization. The three characteristics that were not significantly correlated with satisfaction were cold food being at the right temperature, meals looking delicious, and employees being cheerful.