Sound Masking Prevents HIPAA Violations Sound Masking Stops Confidentiality Leaks at the Doctor's Office Sound Masking Can Protect Your Patient's Privacy
It was 2006 and my spouse and I were seated in the waiting room of my obstetrician's office. I was expecting our first baby and just there for a normal check-up. It was an early morning appointment, so there was only one other patient in the waiting room with us. I recall noticing her because she looked young and she wasn't noticeably pregnant (like patients who joined me in the waiting room usually were.) The assistant called her back by name just before they called me back.
As my spouse and I sat in the exam room and conversed, we heard the obstetrician open the door to the exam room next door and greet the woman who had been in the waiting room with us. Then, we very plainly heard a conversation between them about how the girl had engaged in some hazardous practices and now was worried she had acquired an STD. My spouse and I looked at each other horrified that we had been privy to knowledge that was definitely none of our business. We also did not like the fact that, if we could hear them as plainly as if they were sitting in the room with us, then they obviously could hear us and our confidential discussions as well.
Before the doctor came into the room, I endeavored to find out the answer to why the noise was carrying so well between both rooms. I noticed that the room had been retrofitted to fit the needs of this midwife's practice and that the wall between both rooms butted up against a window. There was about a half an inch of space between the window and the wall and that was the culprit of the sound leak.
Besides it being a definite breach of HIPAA standards, this type of issue could conceivably effect a physician's relationship with and care that they give to a person. If the person notices that what they tell their doctor is not automatically confidential, they could be more reluctant to give out information that could be germane to what care they should be receiving. The trust between a patient and a doctor should be fostered and safeguarded and this kind of disregard for the confidentiality of what is shared could be harmful to that.
A simple solution for the issue would be to outfit the space with sound masking technology. With the addition of some slight background noise in each room, it would not have been nearly so easy to hear discussions in other rooms.
An easy solution for the problem of audible breaches of confidentiality would be to outfit the office with sound masking technology. With the addition of some subtle background or "white" noise in each room, it would not have been nearly so easy to hear discussions in other rooms.
Published April 29th, 2010
Filed in Health
