How Tech Is Changing The Space In Modern Medical Facilities

By Christine Kern, contributing writer

Two organizations are revolutionizing environments of medical facilities.

Healthcare is morphing every day as it adopts and adapts through new innovations in technology that can help improve care, protect privacy, and boost outcomes and bottom lines. Two organizations that are contributing to the revolutionization of medical facility environments are DIRTT and Cambridge Sound Management.

One constant in the healthcare game is the need for upgrades, remodels, and additions to physical space. But that requires construction work, which is often dirty, messy, and can introduce contaminants and irritants into the sterile hospital environment. They can also result is costly shutdowns or stoppages of care.

Enter DIRTT, a technology-driven interior construction company that offers clean installations relying on materials manufactured offsite so there’s no construction dust or debris, meaning no facility shut downs. This efficient means of construction can be upwards of 40 percent faster than traditional builds.

Another way technology is helping improve the overall healthcare experience is by protecting patient privacy. HIPAA requirements are strict regarding the dissemination of patient information, and many healthcare practices and institutions have had to engage in costly remodels to help protect that privacy with new alcoves and other structures that prevent sound from carrying during patient exchanges. And yet, acoustics and sound privacy are often overlooked by architects in planning open waiting areas or patients rooms, where sound travels easily through glass and over walls or partitions.

Now, Cambridge Sound Management is working inside the walls of medical facilities to improve speech privacy for patients. Their Qt Patient Privacy System is a speech protection system designed specifically for medical office reception areas, exam rooms, and pharmacies. It is a sound masking solution that protects conversations between patients and staff in all types of medical facilities. Using emitters installed in the ceiling, the system adds a low level of background sound into the space, making human talk unintelligible from a distance.