Instrumentation for measuring speech privacy in rooms

Abstract

Federal legislation pertaining to oral privacy in healthcare and financial services industries has increased the need for a convenient and economical way to document speech privacy conditions in offices, medical examination rooms, and certain other workspaces. This legislation is embodied in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA). Both laws require that reasonable measures be put in place to safeguard the oral privacy of patients and clients. While techniques for privacy documentation are known within the acoustical consulting community, it is unlikely that community alone has the capacity to provide the surveys needed to evaluate acoustical conditions and demonstrate compliance with the legislation. A portable computer with integrated soundboard and a suitable amplified loudspeaker and test microphone are all that are needed to perform in situ measurements of articulation index or other accepted indices of speech privacy. Along with modest training, such instrumentation allows technicians to survey a large number of sites economically. Cost-effective components are shown that can meet the requirements for testing in most common environments where oral privacy is likely to be required. Example cases are presented to demonstrate the feasibility of such instrumentation.