Sona Hearing brought together 13 external experts in the hearing care industry from across the United States to advise the company on the current unmet needs in the hearing instrument marketplace. The company wanted to gain insight and trends from the hearing care professionals through the open dialogue obtained in an advisory council forum.
sona: Hearing Professional Advisory Council
Hearing impairment is becoming more prevalent across the U.S. in younger populations with about 50% of hearing instrument users now under age 65. Approximately 17%, or 36 million Americans, report some hearing loss. End users want a value-driven, quality hearing device to improve their overall quality of life. Much like what was found for eye glasses, those who need a hearing instrument do not want to wait a week for their device. Rather, they want to leave the hearing care professional's office with their hearing instruments in place to experience better hearing in their life immediately. Hearing care professionals want a solution that is cost-effective yet efficient in reducing administration and complexity while, most importantly, meeting the needs of their end users.
The sona:system allows hearing care professionals to dispense the hearing instrument right during the first visit. Sona Hearing introduced a new line of high quality, affordable hearing instruments for the ear canal (sona:vogue intro) and behind the ear (sona:vogue micro) to several states in the south, east coast and Midwest and will be expanding nationwide throughout 2011.
Advisors to sona were:
Tricia Ashby, AuD, CCC-A, FAAA, Towson University,Towson, MD
Bopanna B. Ballachanda, PhD, CCC-A, FAAA, Premier Hearing Centers, Santa Fe, NM
William W. Dickinson, AuD, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
Denny P. Dingler, II, BC-HIS, Professional Hearing Centers, Inverness, FL
Timothy C Dunnigan, AuD, CCC-A, Advanced Hearing Technology, Naples, FL
