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      • Bot calling to user. Smiling customer service robot. Vector illustration.TUG robot alerts are the remedy for missed medication deliveries at UConn Health.December 3, 2019
      • VUE19 Kevin SpoliniVoalte Alerts with Waveforms Reduce Telemetry Tech Call Time by 82%.November 15, 2019
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    • Voalte Platform
      • Voalte Platform Overview
        A solid foundation for communication that scales along with your healthcare enterprise. Learn more.
      • collaboration-tiny1Collaboration Solutions
        Streamline communication between caregivers inside and outside the hospital.
        • Voalte Platform
        • Voalte One
        • Voalte Me
        • Voalte Messenger
      • management-tinyManagement Solutions
        Manage smartphones and applications from any location, any time, anywhere.
        • Voalte Admin
        • Voalte Connect
      • analytics-tinyAnalytics Solutions
        Gain insight into the use of communication systems, clinical workflows and audit data.
        • Voalte Insight
        • Voalte Reporting Database
      • integration-tinyIntegration Solutions
        Tie together multiple systems for interoperability today and into the future.
        • Alert Integration Gateway
        • Voalte APIs and SDKs
    • Services & Support
      • Support Overview
        Our experts stick with you through every step of your communication upgrade. Learn more.
      • clinical-support1-150×150Clinical Workflow Solutions
        Our clinical team helps optimize caregiver communication with effective workflow changes.

        Learn more.
      • professional-services1-150×150Professional Services
        We support our customers from clinical workflow assessment through up-to-the-minute troubleshooting.

        Learn more.
      • maintenance-support1-150×150Maintenance & Support
        Our 24/7 remote monitoring and support ensures your systems are always up and running smoothly.

        Learn more.
    • Resources
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        Rely on solid statistics, real-world examples, and the latest research to inform your important decisions. Learn more.
      • case-studies-150×150Case Studies
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    • Blog
      • Latest Posts
        The Voalte blog is the best place for industry news and thought leader reviews. See all posts.
        • Bot calling to user. Smiling customer service robot. Vector illustration.TUG robot alerts are the remedy for missed medication deliveries at UConn Health.December 3, 2019
        • VUE19 Kevin SpoliniVoalte Alerts with Waveforms Reduce Telemetry Tech Call Time by 82%.November 15, 2019
        • VUE19 David Briden & Ben BurnsUsing Voalte Insight to pinpoint and reduce unnecessary text messages.November 15, 2019
        • VUE19 Chris KirwanHow Massachusetts General overcame language barriers by replacing interpreters’ pagers with smartphones.November 14, 2019
    • About Us
      • about-us-150×150Our Company
        We reimagine healthcare communication to bridge the gap between technology and care.

        Learn more.
      • careers-150×150Careers
        Join a team that's dedicated to improving healthcare communication.

        Find your dream job.
      • press-150×150Press & News
        Stay in the know about company news and industry-related events.

        Voalte in the news.
      • calendarEvents
        See Voalte in action at any one of these upcoming events!


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      • customers-150×150Customers
        Voalte has attracted the most innovative healthcare providers in the country.

        See our customers.

Lower noise, higher HCAHPS scores?

April 9, 2013Frank Watts

Are today’s hospitals creating an environment that encourages healing and recovery?

A 2012 study from the University of Chicago found average noise levels in hospital rooms easily exceeded the recommended 30 decibels, and peak noise levels sometimes approached the decibel level of a chain saw.1

That sure doesn’t sound therapeutic to me!

At Voalte, we believe reducing hospital noise can improve the patient experience and positively impact HCAHPS scores. Now, there’s evidence that lowering noise also affects patient outcomes.

In another study last year, Orfeu M. Buxton, Ph.D., of Harvard Medical School found a correlation between patient health and noise levels, stating that lowering the noise level in hospitals “would decrease patient stays and improve healing, and perhaps even reduce readmission rates.”2

He also found that some noises are more disruptive than others. In particular, patient heart rates jumped consistently due to the sound of electronic alarms and ringing telephones.

This anxiety makes perfect sense to me. Imagine being a patient in an unfamiliar setting, away from home, and facing the unknown regarding your health. You might wonder:

– Why are all these alarms going off? Did someone die? Are they for me?
– Why does the nurse keep leaving my room to talk on the phone? Is she talking to my doctor? Why don’t they want me to hear?
– Why is this machine attached to me beeping? What does it mean? Am I taking a turn for the worse?

Too often, caregivers and the communication tools they use only add to the cacophony … and the anxiety. Many nurses are given phones as their main tool to communicate with other caregivers, departments and doctors. Yet HIPAA requires they don’t discuss clinical matters in front of a patient, so every phone call causes an interruption as the nurse leaves the patient’s bedside to answer the call. If the nurse is too busy to answer, other noisy strategies such as overhead paging attempt to locate them.

Fortunately, there is a solution. Secure text messaging via smartphone can eliminate up to 70 percent of ringing telephones and nearly all overhead paging. Alarm management tools can integrate disjointed devices and assign levels so all alarms are not treated equally.

As scientific evidence supports the importance of lowering the noise level in hospitals, old attitudes are changing gradually. Maybe what will truly push the urgency of this issue will be the new policies linking hospital reimbursement to patient satisfaction.

1. Jordan C. Yoder, BSE; Paul G. Staisiunas, BA; David O. Meltzer, MD, PhD; Kristen L. Knutson, PhD; Vineet M. Arora, MD, MAPP, Arch Intern Med. 2012;172(1):68-70. doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2011.603.

2. Orfeu M. Buxton, Ph.D., assistant professor, Harvard Medical School, and associate neuroscientist, division of sleep medicine, department of medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston; Gulshan Sharma, M.D., M.P.H., director, Medical Intensive Care Unit, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston; June 12, 2012, Annals of Internal Medicine.

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  • TUG robot alerts are the remedy for missed medication deliveries at UConn Health.
  • Voalte Alerts with Waveforms Reduce Telemetry Tech Call Time by 82%.
  • Using Voalte Insight to pinpoint and reduce unnecessary text messages.
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