Medical Centre Acoustics
Most consulting rooms in the health professions – medical, dental, optical, etc - have a common process related to patients’ admission procedure. Medical centres of all types usually welcome patients in a reception area, then have them wait in defined waiting rooms until their turn comes to be ushered into a consulting room or surgery.
With unwanted noise in mind, there are two key criteria involved in this process – Ensuring patients are as relaxed as possible, and ensuring patients have as much privacy as possible. Specifically, patients and visitors in waiting rooms do not want to hear everything that is being said in the reception area - or the private conversations in the consulting rooms.
Reducing Noise In Medical Centre's
The first thing that must be addressed is to understand the source of noise that is causing concern. Here are some questions that might apply to a typical medical centre:
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What type of noise is it? (Conversation, speech, telephone calls, etc).
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Where is it coming from? (Reception area, kitchen, etc)
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Is noise coming through the walls and ceilings or corridors?
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Can people in reception hear what is being said in the consulting rooms? Or vice versa?