What Did You Just Type?
If you read the July 2009 issue of Consumer Reports there was a "Step-by-Step Guide on How to Buy Hearing Aids." The first three paragraph headings of this article were the same as the subject of this email, "High Prices - Mediocre Fittings - Lack of Information"
Under the heading "Mediocre Fittings", the article read as follows, "We had audiologists check how well providers fit our shoppers' hearing aids to their individual hearing loss. Two-thirds of the 48 aids they bought were misfit: they amplified too little or too much."
Take a look through the article, and I am sure that you will find several things that you may disagree with. You may even get a little angry. You may decide to write a letter to the publication to register your disagreement. But, I want to ask you, when you take the time to read the entire article again, were you really that surprised? A recent Hearing Journal/AudiologyOnline Survey indicated that less than 40% of professionals routinely measure the final result of their hearing aid fittings. This matches up almost perfectly with the 66% that Consumer Reports listed as being misfit.
Measuring Quality In Your Practice
Call it serendipity, but our latest article published on AO by Brian Taylor, Au.D., tackles this very topic. Dr. Taylor not only talks about verification using real-ear measures, but discusses additional subjective and objective measures to address the quality of your practice. Click to read, Measuring Quality in Your Practice: First Rate Clinical Practices = Unsurpassed Business Success.
If you want more information on hearing aid verification, check out two recent recordings of live courses: one by Drs. Gitte Keidser and Harvey Dillon from the National Acoustics Laboratories, who take you through the NAL-NL2 prescription and how it differs from NL1;the other by Dr. Gus Mueller on verification with open canal hearing aids.
New CEU Total Access Program Launched
Changing gears. Our expanded CEU Total Access (CTA) program has officially been launched. Now, all courses - live, recorded, and text based - (such as those mentioned above by Drs. Taylor, Keidser and Dillon) are free to view. When you are ready to earn CEUs, you simply pay a $99 annual fee, which allows you to earn unlimited CEUs on Audiology Online. It is the best CEU offer anywhere and we encourage you to take advantage of it.
Until Next Time
Thanks for reading. Please take a look at the great information contained in the links to your right, and also take a look at our Around The Web (ATW). This month's ATW includes: music is a mega-vitamin, deep brain stim for tinnitus, courtrooms stepping up for those with hearing loss, Rush Limbaugh likes scented candles and much more!
Best regards,
Paul Dybala, Ph.D. - Audiologist
President & Editor-in-Chief, Audiology Online
