Hospital Room
Pressure Monitoring

Hospital Room Pressure Monitoring

As the pandemic’s historic  impacts  subside , hospitals are now beginning to address  the issues that the epidemic highlighted. 

A major concern that only increased as COVID cases  increased  was hospital room pressure monitoring. With the increased demand for isolation rooms, the need for proper monitoring systems skyrocketed. .  

Technology like wireless monitoring is becoming the preferred choice as many hospitals realize their need for more advanced systems that reduce the burden of manual data tracking and logging. 

Air pressure can change and be impacted in a second so having a system that can quickly detect and alert users of significant  changes right away such as Sonicu’s system is the best choice for many  facilities. 

Monitoring systems are especially crucial in isolation rooms. 

Patients are separated  based on their suspected or diagnosed illnesses as certain room pressures are catering to specific conditions. 

Room Pressure Monitoring

A serious concern of patients, staff, and visitors at healthcare facilities is controlling the spread of airborne infectious diseases. 

Prominent diseases and illnesses such as COVID-19 brought attention to the quality of air in hospital rooms. To minimize the spread of airborne infection, certain rooms within healthcare  facilities are designated as isolation rooms with   negative and positive pressure differentials.

Isolation rooms should  meet the general requirements for standard medical-surgical patients, they must also adhere to  other specific requirements. 

For instance, there must only be one patient bed, areas for gowning and storage of clean and soiled materials near the entry door, and a separate toilet room with a hand-washing sink. 

The isolation room must also be well-sealed to prevent extra air leakage in and out of the room. 

Regulation from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers  (ASHRAE’s) Standard 170, titled “Ventilation of Health Care Facilities”, requires each isolation room to have a permanently installed visual device or mechanism to constantly monitor the air pressure differential of the rooms that are occupied by patients who require isolation. 

As an example, in a controlled environment meant to maintain a differential of minus 0.03-inch WC, the alarm could be programmed to alert when the pressure differential falls to minus 0.01-inch WC. 

The most reliable hospital room pressure monitoring system is an electric one that consists of two components: 

• A communicating meter  
• A sensor 

Control panels in some cases should   provide a continuous readout of the pressure differential. They may also include both audible and visual alarms to warn staff of any pressurization excursions. 

This alarm system should also have a remote system that can alert workers of extreme drops in air pressure differentials of hospital room pressure monitoring from anywhere. 

Sonicu’s wireless remote air pressure monitoring system meets all of these regulatory requirements and  it is a fully scalable, cloud-based solution that automates your monitoring processes across all departments. 

With 24/7  continuous monitoring and device and user customization, users of Sonicu technology can receive alerts via  text, phone calls, user-defined emails, or a combination of alerts based on their threshold settings. 

Alarming with Sonicu technology is tiered based on escalation importance and creates remote tracking of all data ranging from daily air pressure differentials  to alarms and resolutions. 

You can learn more about how our software helps compliance professionals in these case studies: 

Discount Drug Mart: Power Outage Protection + Compliance Automation

Problem: Transitioning from manual temperature logs and reactive power outage management

Solution: Adopting Sonicu's advanced system for seamless temperature monitoring and real-time power outage alerts across its 77 locations.

Hendricks Health: From Nutrition to the OR

Problem: The need to improve compliance and safety across various departments, starting from nutrition to the operating rooms.

Solution: Upgraded monitoring systems to enhance patient safety and streamline compliance across multiple facilities, including local YMCA rehabilitation facilities.

IU Health: Enterprise Monitoring

Problem: Challenges of using a locally based server and multiple monitoring solutions across departments.

Solution: Transitioned to a single, cloud-based solution with Sonicu to enhance monitoring capabilities across more than a dozen locations and the IU School of Medicine.

Cloud-Based Temperature monitoring and hospital room pressure monitoring

A cloud-based temperature monitoring should be an important part of the overall monitoring and security plan for many healthcare and life science  and facilities. 

Most facilities remotely monitor their networks and spaces for intrusion and major drops in set temperature thresholds. Environmental factors are the main reason  for these intrusions but they are often not easily detectable. or. 

A solution to this problem is cloud-based temperature and  environmental monitoring that provides specialized alerts and compliance reporting such as Sonicu. 

Access to conditions through a web or app portal allows businesses   a quick snapshot of the conditions of their facilities, no matter where they are. 

Monitoring and logging  these conditions over time is important for not only meeting regulatory standards and requirements but also getting a better view  into potential air flow challenges  before they grow serious, potentially leading to hospital-acquired infections or the loss of critical research. 

Knowing the temperature of remote locations is critical to maintaining maximum uptime. 

Significant temperature, relative humidity, and air pressure differential changes are vital in hospitals as they can infect already vulnerable patients. 

Medical labs and pharmaceutical facilities are also required to keep certain materials under strict temperature guidelines. 

With the constant expansion of available Internet bandwidth, more facilities are able to monitor their environments remotely more than ever before. 

Hospitals are now operating with more  remote monitoring to better track  patient vitals and hospital room pressure monitoring, among other key patient and building parameters. 

Room pressure monitoring may vary depending on the patient’s illness and specific needs. 

The Importance of Negative Pressure Rooms

Negative pressure rooms, also called isolation rooms, are a type of room in a hospital with the purpose of preventing airborne microorganisms in the room from entering the hallway and outside corridors. 

They are a crucial part of the infection control method for patients who are positive for contagious airborne diseases such as SARS, MERS, tuberculosis, measles, and COVID-19. 

These rooms keep patients suspected of and diagnosed with infectious illnesses away from frontline workers, visitors, and other patients

These rooms have lower air pressure on the inside than the outside corridors. 

When the door to a negative pressure room is opened, non-contaminated filtered air flows into the room while harmful particles and contaminated air outside of the room are simultaneously sucked out with exhaust systems. 

The exhaust systems of the room are built with filters that clean the air before it’s released outside and away from the building. 

However, multiple isolation rooms are allowed to be connected to the same exhaust and hospital room pressure monitoring systems.

Negative pressure isolation rooms require a minimum of 12 air changes of exhaust per hour and must maintain a 0.01-inch WC negative-pressure differential to the adjacent corridor, regardless of the use of an anteroom or not. 

When an anteroom is provided, airflow should be from the courier into the anteroom, then from the anteroom into the patient isolation room. 

In order to maintain the required pressure differential, the exhaust air quantity must always remain higher than the supply airflow. 

Supply air for the room must be located in the ceiling above the patient's bed, with return air taken from the ceiling near the patient's room door. 

Standards require that airflow into these rooms be maintained at a constant volume to provide consistent ventilation in the room. 

Despite standards and the major impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, negative pressure rooms are in short supply in hospitals. 

Only 2 to 4 percent  of all hospital rooms in the U.S. are equipped for negative pressure and have proper hospital room pressure monitoring systems. 

Sonicu’s simple and affordable room conditions monitoring systems are trusted by scores of healthcare and life science organizations to help them better manage their facilities while automating often dense and tedious regulatory compliance reports. 

Isolation rooms: Positive vs Negative pressure 

In all healthcare settings, efficient ventilation systems ensure the comfort and safety of staff, patients, and visitors. 

These systems are crucial to help prevent the spread of harmful microorganisms. 

Medical and engineering experts agree   the importance of ventilation and controlled airflows in healthcare environments are important  because pathogens spread rapidly in enclosed spaces. 

Factors that can potentially spread dangerous pathogens included  poor ventilation and incorrect control as well as a lack of  hospital room pressure monitoring.

Isolation rooms act as a barrier to contain airborne pathogens within them  while simultaneously preventing their entry. 

Air pressure differentials between isolation rooms and adjoining areas ensure that pathogens do not spread from one place to another. Air pressure stabilizers are used to maintain and manage these air pressure parameters. 

Healthcare setting isolation rooms have negative pressure, positive pressure, or a switchable airflow. 

Rooms with negative air pressure are lower than the outside pressure. Negative air pressure prevents pathogens from flowing to adjoining, non-contaminated areas when the door to the room is opened. 

These rooms are most commonly used when caring for patients with highly infectious diseases. 

Positive pressure isolation rooms have air pressure that’s higher than the adjoining areas. These rooms also prevent airborne pathogens from entering the room and are traditionally used for patients with immuno-compromised conditions. 

Switchable  airflow isolation rooms utilize tools and technology such as Sonicu as hospital room pressure monitoring systems help keep monitor and log  the conditions in these rooms.

These rooms pose a severe risk as at least 40 percent  of these rooms have been cited to leak positive pressure to adjoining corridors when closed. 

Additional findings also indicate that a decrease in negative pressure differentials cannot be controlled due to the opening of doors and constant clogging of filters.

Benefits of Sonicu’s Room Pressure Monitoring System

Treating  patients in a controlled  hospital environment is critical to limit the spread of diseases from hospital rooms to the outside community. 

Hospitals are recommended to include units with clinical facilities that are specifically designed to minimize the risk of spreading illness from the hospital to the outside world. Hospitals should  also feature  adequate technical facilities and tools.

A good technical tool for hospitals to invest in is room conditions monitoring systems. room  

A remote, wireless room condition monitoring system  removes the burden of manual logging and tracking while simultaneously delivering  better regulatory compliance. 

These systems can be installed simply and deliver a powerful return on investment for years by converting once-tedious compliance reporting activities into automated processes that save your team time and money. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends the following requirements for maintaining safe and secure  isolation rooms:

• Isolation rooms must provide negative air pressure into the room where air flows under the door gap
• Isolation rooms require an airflow rate of 6-12 Air Changes Per Hour (ACH). 6 ACH is necessary for existing isolation rooms and structures, while 12 ACH is required for new construction and renovations.
• Isolation rooms require a direct exhaust of air exiting the room to the outside of the facility. 
• Alternatively, air can recirculate through a HEPA filter and return to circulation.

Relying on outdated systems that do the bare minimum on top of caring for patients is too burdensome for healthcare workers. As healthcare organizations combat labor shortages and burnout, the importance of automated systems that conduct the monitoring and reporting automatically is increasing. 

Sonicu’s hospital room pressure monitoring system can combat all of these problems as it collects and displays 24/7/365 data collected and pinpoints dangerous trends and areas for remediation. 

You can learn more about how our software helps compliance professionals in these case studies: 

Ohio University Innovation Center

Problem: Tech and tech-enabled startups at the Innovation Center needed reliable support systems for temperature and environmental monitoring due to the requirements of grant-funded projects.

Solution: Implement Sonicu for comprehensive monitoring of temperature, ambient humidity, and air pressure differential, ensuring necessary protection and compliance.

Hancock Regional Health: Enterprise Monitoring from Sound to Environmental

Problem: Disparate monitoring systems were taxing the staff with many manual processes, leading to inefficiencies and reduced asset protection.

Solution: CEO Steve Long initiated the adoption of a consolidated monitoring program for temperature, environmental, and sound, which automated compliance and reduced manual logging.

Xytex Sperm Bank: Ultra Low Temperature Monitoring

Problem: Frequent false alerts were causing alarm fatigue, threatening the operations at Xytex Sperm Bank.

Solution: Partnered with Sonicu to develop a custom temperature monitoring solution for ULT and cryo temperatures, including probes inside and outside the preservation chambers.

Why Scores of Hospitals and Laboratories are Turning to Sonicu for Environmental  Monitoring 

Sonicu is the best option for hospitals looking for an affordable, high-quality pressure monitoring system. 

An easy-to-install and configure solution supported by live U.S.-based phone support, Sonicu is the affordable, intuitive, and trusted temperature and environmental monitoring solution deployed nationwide. 

Pressure monitoring has never been easier, as users can set up thresholds that will automatically alert when there is an imbalance or significant differential. 

Sonicu’s technology also saves time as it tracks and logs all compliance reports in seconds, saving others the time and effort that goes into manually drafting monthly reports.

“Sonicu has been a powerful tool to identify which units are behaving out of spec and get our team
to fix them before we have a serious issue.”
Tim Livesay, Director, Hancock Regional Hospital Pharmacy Director