When running or managing a hospital, privacy should always be a concern—both for patients and employees. HIPPA violations can happen in hallways and patient rooms, so it’s crucial that your hospital has proper sound masking to keep conversations from spreading. 

Privacy is not the only reason that sound masking can help a hospital; Patient comfort is another bonus to a sound masking system. General sounds and voices in the hospital are not as bothersome when the right technology is installed. 

If you’re considering sound masking for your healthcare facility, check out these answers to our most frequently asked questions. 

Can Sound Masking Help Achieve HIPAA Compliance?

Sound masking is a special science that strives to increase comfort and privacy in a building. Essentially, it adds targeted sounds to a room to muffle human speech. 

That’s an oversimplified explanation, but it’s the easiest way to explain. Sound masking helps to raise the background noise without being intrusive to those around. 

How does this help achieve HIPAA compliance? When conversations about a patient happen in a space with sound masking, the conversations will not reach the ears of those who shouldn’t be privy to them. 

Sound masking becomes part of your HIPAA compliance strategy, which helps your hospital keep information private. 

How Does Sound Masking Protect Patient Privacy?

As we stated, sound masking helps protect privacy. Conversations cannot be overheard in a space with sound masking, which means a patient’s confidential health information does not spread to other employees or patients. 

In addition, patients feel more comfortable in a space where they know their information is treated with respect. 

Does Sound Masking Improve Comfort in Healthcare Spaces?

Sound masking can improve patients’ comfort in hospitals and other healthcare spaces. Because sound masking helps remove distractions and noise from an individual’s hearing, patients can sleep better while healing in your hospital. 

Even empty spaces can have noise, and conversations can carry further, but sound masking can help a large empty room feel quieter. 

Sound masking also helps reduce overall space noise, allowing patients and employees to share space comfortably. 

Can Sound Masking Increase HCAHPS Scores?

Yes, sound masking can help increase HCAHPS scores. With fewer distractions and reduced overall noise, doctors and nurses can communicate better with each other and patients and can help improve the quietness of your hospital. 

Patients who feel more comfortable in a hospital will likely have a better experience in your care. 

How Does Sound Masking Boost Productivity in Healthcare?

Sound masking helps boost productivity in healthcare by reducing stress for employees. In general, workplace stress increases days off, increases absenteeism, and increases healthcare costs for employers. 

Sound masking can help reduce stress by making an environment more comfortable and less noisy. A noisy environment can be stressful for people trying to be productive and get work done, and sound masking can help alleviate that problem. 

What Healthcare Environments Should Have Sound Masking?

Many different types of healthcare environments can benefit from sound masking. 

This can include: 

  • Clinics

  • Hospitals

  • Dentists

  • Pharmacies

  • Physical Therapy Offices

  • Urgent Care offices

  • Nursing Homes

  • Hospice Care

What Sound Masking Is Best for Healthcare?

Custom sound masking for your specific hospital is best for healthcare. Every space is different from an acoustic perspective, so tailoring your sound masking system to your exact environment is what Building Systems Solutions does best. 

Sound masking should always be flexible to fit your facility and the changing noise levels throughout the day or week. Our sound masking systems will adjust to compensate for more or less noise. 

Building Systems Solutions recommends Soft db Sound Masking equipment for hospitals. This brand has what is called “adaptive volume,” which allows the sound masking levels to change based on the current noise level. 

You can control your sound masking system manually if something unusual happens. There is even an option to control the sound masking levels from a smartphone. 

Is Sound Masking the Same as White Noise?

No, sound masking is not the same as white noise. White noise is a mix of sounds at various frequencies. In contrast, sound masking is specifically engineered to cover the frequency of human speech, making it more effective and less intrusive in healthcare environments. 

Other types of sound exist, including pink noise and brown noise. Pink noise is a steady hum that can help people sleep at night. It uses lower sound waves, making it more gentle and soothing. 

Brown noise is a deeper rumbling sound that can sound familiar to falling rain, wind, or waves. 

Does Acoustics Play a Part in Sound Masking?

Acoustics in healthcare settings can affect patient comfort. Healthcare facilities tend to be noisy, with machines, conversations, alarms and alerts, paging systems, and more. 

This cacophony can make it difficult for patients to get adequate rest for recovery. Sound masking can improve acoustics by masking some noise. 

These benefits apply to staff, too, who may become overwhelmed by the amount of noise in an area. 

Is Sound Masking Expensive to Install?

The cost of sound masking depends on the size of the space and the number of pieces of equipment required. 

However, sound masking has high ROI due to the increased productivity and customer satisfaction. 

To know your specific ROI potential, check out our sound masking ROI calculator. 

Can Sound Masking Improve Professionalism in Healthcare?

Ensuring your healthcare facility is a beacon of customer satisfaction involves improved professionalism. 

Sound masking can help your employees focus, convey that your facility cares about the patients and their families, and generally improve opinions of your facility. 

What Are Some Other Benefits of Sound Masking?

There are many other benefits of sound masking, especially for hospitals. The most vital one is the ability to fully comply with legal obligations. 

Like financial institutions, hospitals pass along sensitive information all day long, so keeping that information safe is vital. Sound masking can also help comply with HIPAA.

Sound masking is also better than white noise. White noise is a single sound that maintains its volume level, no matter how loud or quiet a particular environment is. 

Sound masking is tailored to the sound of human speech, which makes it a better solution for masking sounds than plain white noise. 

Call Building Systems Solutions Today to Bring Sound Masking to Your Hospital

Building Systems Solutions can provide your hospital or clinic with the best sound masking equipment. We tailor every sound masking project to your specific environment so you get a customized solution for keeping private information safe and patients happy and more comfortable. 

Give us a call today at 763-502-1515 or send us a message on our website.