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 husband and I were sitting in the waiting room of my OB/GYN's office. I was pregnant with our first child and just there for a routine visit. It was an early morning appointment, so there was only one other person in the waiting room with us. I remember noticing her because she looked young and she wasn't noticeably pregnant (like people who joined me in the waiting room usually were.) The nurse called her back by name very shortly before they called me back.
As my husband 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 girl who had been in the lobby with us. Then, we very plainly heard a conversation between them about how the girl had engaged in some unhealthy practices and now was worried she had acquired an STI. My husband and I looked at each other horrified that we had been privy to knowledge that was surely none of our business. We also did not like the fact that, if we could overhear them as plainly as if they were seated in the room with us, then they obviously could hear us and our confidential conversations as well.
Before the doctor came into the room, I endeavored to find out the reason the noise was carrying so well between the two rooms. I noticed that the space had been retrofitted to fit the needs of this obstetrician's practice and that the wall between the two rooms came right up next to a window. There was a tiny amount of space between the window and the wall and that was the cause of the sound leak.
Besides it being an obvious breach of HIPAA laws, this type of predicament could potentially effect a physician's relationship with and care that they give to a person. If the patient notices that what they tell their physician is not automatically confidential, they could be more reluctant to give out specifics that could be germane to what care they should be receiving. The trust between a patient and a physician should be fostered and guarded and this kind of disregard for the confidentiality of what is shared could be damaging to that.
A straightforward solution for the predicament would be to outfit the place with sound masking technology. With the addition of some subtle background noise in each room, it would not have been nearly so easy to hear exchanges in other rooms.
An easy solution for the issue 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 conversations in other rooms.
Published April 29th, 2010
Filed in Business