× You are not currently logged in. To receive all the benefits our site has to offer, we encourage you to log in now.

Insights & Solutions

Affiliate +
Issue Brief
March 2014 Issue Brief

As part of the noise toolbox, in this issue brief you will learn about how excessive noise can negatively impact patients and staff in the hospital environment, ways to improve patients’ perception of sound, and low-cost, medium-cost, and high-cost design strategies that can reduce noise.

Affiliate +
Design Strategies
May 2014 Design Strategies
Overview

HCAHPS scores related to noise in the hospital environment are typically among the lowest. Acoustic intervention packages implemented by healthcare organizations are often a combination of built environment and operational measures.  

 

Affiliate +
Tool
September 2015 Tool

This tool provides healthcare designers and professionals with ideas on how to address the issue of noise in facility design.

Affiliate +
Project Brief
August 2015 Project Brief

Learn about: how one hospital’s emergency room pilot project increased patient satisfaction, the standards developed post-pilot to decrease noise transfer to other areas of the hospital, and why having design changes on paper may not be enough.

Affiliate +
Project Brief
October 2014 Project Brief

Learn about: how St. Mary's Hospital targeted noise reduction goals for their cardiac care unit, about onsite sound measurements that informed material selection, and about design changes that resulted in reduced noise from the highest sources of sound.

Affiliate +
Project Brief
October 2014 Project Brief

Learn about: the impact of noise on both patient and staff outcomes, about the methods the research team used to evaluate noise levels, and the difference between patient and staff perceptions of noise sources.

Affiliate +
Interview
October 2014 Interview

Learn about: the key noise issues facing the industry today, design strategies that can be implemented to mitigate noise, the problems with spaces that are too quiet.

Blog
November 2014 Blog

In the ongoing battle to reduce noise in hospital patient units, much attention has been paid to the floor and the ceiling. Over the years, several case studies have shown that sound-absorbing ceiling tile and carpet can help significantly reduce excess noise on a unit. But what about the walls?

Affiliate +
Interview
October 2014 Interview

Learn about: why hospitals starting to care more about noise issues, new metrics for noise measurements and why measuring noise in unoccupied rooms is important and holistic approaches to sound reduction.

Blog
October 2014 Blog

For many years, carpet was considered a no-no for use in most hospital settings beyond waiting areas. The most oft-cited reason was cleanability, as well as a perceived added difficulty for caregivers pushing carts and other wheeled equipment.

However, with the growing awareness of the noise issue in hospitals—including the potential financial repercussions, based on the HCAHPS system and the reimbursements tied to it—carpet is getting a second look in some facilities looking to decrease overall noise levels.