Speech privacy in healthcare: A case study discussion of design and measurement results Free

This presentation will be an overview of speech privacy design and measurement summary for a medical office building in Roseville, CA, where TEECOM provided the acoustical design services. Speech privacy can be analyzed in several ways. For this presentation, TEECOM will compare the measured speech privacy performance using Speech Privacy Predictor (SPP) and Speech Privacy Class (SPC) for partitions between exam rooms and between offices as well as their respective door-walls. The project encountered budget constraints that limited the design options; demising walls were required to be partial-height. An electronic sound masking system was incorporated to elevate the ambient noise levels within comfortable limits to provide a controlled background noise level in the hallways and in enclosed spaces. Post-occupancy comments on the quality of speech privacy were gathered by the Architecture client and will be shared to support the quantifiable findings. Considerations for further improvements are described, including space planning and other design elements that can be used to achieve the confidentially goals and requirements established by HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act).