Advanced Ordering Service Type: Item Selection Logic for a Personal Menu

• Advanced Ordering (AO) Service Type: Item Selection Logic for a Personal Menu
  • What if there are multiple items from the same choice selection in a category?
• Reusing of Past Orders
  • Can the Reused Order Feature be Disabled?/How do I Clear a Reused Order?
• How Does a Production Report Determine what AO Items to Generate?

Advanced Ordering (AO) Service Type: Item Selection Logic for a Personal Menu

When a resident/patient's profile is set up with the Advanced Ordering service type, the menu items available for selection on their personal menu are based on their assigned diet order, allergens, and personal menu “do not serve” customizations.

When a resident makes a selection from the available items on their personal menu, then those items will be included on production reports. However, if a resident does not place an advanced order for a meal period (breakfast, lunch, dinner), then the system will automatically make the selection for them based on the item selection logic, and will include those items on production reports. 

When there is a choice 1 item on the active menu that exists for the resident/patient's diet type and texture type, the selection logic to determine what is offered on the personal menu of a resident with the advanced ordering service type is as follows: 

1. The choice 1 item will be offered on the personal menu if it is not DNS (do not serve) due to an allergen or being manually marked as DNS. For example, the choice 1 orange juice is not DNS and therefore is offered. 
   
   
   
   Note that if there are multiple items from the same choice selection in a category and none is DNS due to an allergen or being manually marked as DNS, then all items are offered. For example, orange juice and apple juice are both choice 1 items in the Juice category, and therefore both are offered. 
   
   
    
2. If the choice 1 item on their personal menu is DNS due to an allergen or being manually marked as DNS, then that choice 1 item is not offered. The selection logic continues as follows: 
    
   1. If there is another choice 1 item in the same category, and that choice 1 item is not DNS due to an allergen or being manually marked as DNS, then that other choice 1 item is offered. For example, if the choice 1 orange juice in the Juice category is DNS, but the choice 1 apple juice also in the Juice category is not DNS, then the apple juice is offered. 
      
      
       
   2. If there is no other choice 1 item in the same category, or there is but it too is DNS due to an allergen or being manually marked as DNS, then the system looks at the choice 2 selection, and repeats steps 1 and 2 above. In the example below, the choice 2 items of cranberry juice and pineapple juice in the Juice category are offered. 
      
      
       
   3. If there are no choice 2 items that can be offered, then the system looks sequentially at the next choice selections (choice 3, 4, 5), if available, repeating steps 1 and 2 above for each choice selection. 
       
3. If an item from a choice selection cannot be offered, the system will look if an Also Available (AA) menu configured as a house fallback is scheduled. If so, then the system chooses an item from the AA menu, looking in the day/meal period/menu category.
   
     
   
   Note that an AA menu item displays as underlined on a Tray Menu ticket (left) and the Person-Specific Select Menu (right).
    
    
4. If an AA menu is not scheduled, or is scheduled but no item is assigned for the day/meal period/menu category, or an item cannot be offered due to an allergen or being manually marked as DNS, then the system looks if a fallback substitute is assigned. 
   
     
   
   Note that a fallback substitute displays as underlined on a Tray Menu ticket (left) and the Person-Specific Select Menu (right).
   
     
    
5. If a menu item cannot be offered after the selection logic is performed above, the system displays a “Substitute Needed” cell. 
   
   
   
   By hovering over the Substitute Needed cell and clicking the Add Substitute option (first screenshot below), the Add Substitute modal displays (second screenshot below) with the following options:
   • Add a fallback substitute to resolve a Substitute Needed (replaces item for the instance: day, meal period/snack time, and menu category).
   • Add a personal menu item to resolve a Substitute Needed (adds personal menu item for the instance: day, meal period/snack time, and menu category).
     
     
     
     

What if there are multiple items from the same choice selection in a category?

If there are multiple food items (i.e. options) from the same choice selection in a category, and none is DNS due to an allergen or being manually marked as DNS, then all items are offered. The system will not select one item over the other. 

For example, assume the choice 1 item(s) and the choice 2 item(s) from the Juice category are DNS due to an allergen or being manually marked as DNS. Therefore the system looks at the choice 3 items in the Juice category, which for example's sake consists of pineapple juice and cranberry juice. Because the pineapple juice and cranberry juice are not DNS due to an allergen or being manually marked as DNS, both juices are offered for choice 3 (as per screenshot below). 

 

These items are also printed on the Tray Menu Tickets Report (People) and Person-Specific Select Menus Report (People), as per screenshot below. 

Reusing of Past Orders

If a resident/patient with the advanced ordering service type misses placing an order, the system will reuse the same order from the previous same menu week/day/meal service, assuming that all the same menu items from the past order can still be served (some of the reasons a menu item may no longer be served include a diet order change, a menu item change (including a menu item replacement), and a specific substitute in the personal menu).

The reuse of past orders by the system is illustrated in the following scenario:

• Assume there is a four-week menu and it is week 1 of the menu cycle.
• Jill places an advanced order for Wednesday dinner.
• Four weeks pass, and the menu cycles over to week 1 again.
• Jill does not place an order for Wednesday dinner.
• The system will reuse the same items that were ordered by Jill four weeks ago for Wednesday dinner. 

When an order is reused, the personal menu displays the "reused" icon () for the items being reordered (first screenshot below). And if a tray menu ticket is generated, it displays "Reused order" and the "reused" icon (second screenshot below).

Note: When an item is from a reused order, it is only indicated as such in the Core system (with the "reused order" icon), and not on the AO screen in the Touch app. 

If a new advanced order is placed for the resident/patient for the menu week/day/meal service, then the existing reuse order is cancelled.

Can the Reused Order Feature be Disabled?/How do I Clear a Reused Order?

The reused order feature is set by default in the system, and at this time there is no option to disable it.

Note: In the Touch Admin software you may notice the Allow previous preference selection setting (in Ordering Settings > Configuration). This setting serves no function; so therefore do not use it thinking you can enable/disable the reused order feature. 

The means to "clear" a reused order for a week/day/meal service is to take a new advanced order prior to the cutoff time for that week/day/meal service. 

How Does a Production Report Determine what AO Items to Generate?

For those residents with the advanced ordering (AO) service type, the following options are available to determine the items and their serving numbers when running a production report:

Use Forecast - This option is only available if the AO census is configured to be included in forecasting (click here to learn how to include the AO census in forecasting and why you would want to). The Use Forecast option functions as follows:

• For residents with the AO service type, the report will include items and their serving numbers pulled from the forecasting worksheets associated with the selected days and meal periods/snack times. As such, for orders that have been placed already by residents with the AO service type, these placed orders will be ignored (i.e., not included in the production report).
• Note that as per standard AO item selection logic, for residents with the AO service type who have not placed an order, the forecasting worksheet includes items that are automatically selected based on the AO item selection logic, and as such these items are included on the production report.

Use Orders - If the AO census is not configured to be included in forecasting, then the Use Forecast option is not available and as such the Use Orders option is automatically selected by default. If the AO census is configured to be included in forecasting then either the Use Forecast option (explained above) or Use Orders option is available to be selected. The Use Orders option functions as follows: 

• For orders that have been placed already by residents with the AO service type, these placed orders will be included in the production report (the Use Orders option does not rely on forecasting amounts).
• Note that as per standard AO item selection logic, for residents with the AO service type who have not placed an order, the production report will include items that are automatically selected based on the AO item selection logic. However, if you did not want the report to include items for those resident/patients who have not placed an order, then such items can be excluded by selecting the Exclude AO People who have not placed an order option. 

Note: The Use Orders option is associated with the advanced ordering (AO) service type only (as indicated by appearing in the Advance Ordering section). Regardless if forecasting is applied to the menu or not, the option will remain available for use.