Alton (Ill.) Memorial Hospital launched new dining software within its Epic EHR system this month to help monitor and manage patients' nutritional health, according to a Jan. 24 Telegraph report.
The software, called My Dining, allows the hospital's café staff to use iPads to take patients' food orders. Patient information, including diet order, allergies and supplements, are automatically updated in the dining system through the Epic EHR integration.
"When a patient is discharged or diet changes occur, this will update in real time," said Ken Derienzo, director of food and nutrition at AMH, according to the report. "It is critical that diet orders are entered correctly and in a timely manner."
Hospital staff are able to track patients' nutritional compliance, and the software alerts users if the order exceeds the patient's allowed nutritional limits.