The Texas Academy of Audiology celebrated its 10th anniversary at the annual conference, held November 13-14, 2009 in Austin Texas. The conference achieved the highest attendance in the Academy's history and provided attendees with pertinent talks from nationally-renowned speakers including Drs. Jerry Northern, Kristina English, Michael Valente, Maureen Valente, Dave Smriga, in addition to highly-regarded Texas audiologists. This year's conference provided a wide spectrum of continuing education, as well as focusing on key current legislative issues which are heavily impacting audiologists in Texas and throughout the country.
The conference began on Friday with an opportunity for audiologists to talk with State Medicaid representatives about the transition of reimbursement and billing protocols from Program for Amplification for Children of Texas (PACT) to Medicaid. Friday's agenda included talks on counseling patients, supervision of audiology students and externs, ASSR, professional ethics, VEMPs, Texas Hearing and Service dogs, and updates on the latest amplification technology.
On Saturday, staff members Melissa Sinden and Kate Thomas, from the Academy of Audiology's Government Relations Office, presented a ground-breaking State Audiology Advocacy Grassroots Training at a special breakfast session. This training, the first of its kind held at the state level, outlined strategies for equipping audiologists to establish active contacts with federal and state legislators in their home area. By the end of the conference, audiologists had volunteered to serve as local advocates for over two-thirds of Texas's legislative districts.
Saturday also included talks on open hearing aid fitting strategies, roles and training of audiology assistants, prevention of music-induced hearing loss in schools, OAEs, as well as a comprehensive review of objective verification strategies for testing digital hearing aids.
Several important legislative actions will affect Texas audiologists in 2010, including a Sunset Review of audiology licensure. On Saturday, Texas Academy President Matt Lyon, Lobbyist Brad Shields, and Vice-President for Governmental Affairs Angela Poe stressed the importance of active support by TAA members for the organization's goals, including the need for increasing membership among Texas audiologists.
With representatives from over 30 companies, the Exhibitor Hall was open for attendees throughout the conference to learn more about the latest in a wide range of hearing healthcare related technology. In addition, the annual student poster competition allowed students an opportunity to exhibit their research.
The 10th Annual Texas Academy of Audiology conference was a great success!
For more information on audiology in the great state of Texas, go to www.texasaudiology.org. Become a member of TAA today!
Texas Academy Holds Annual Conference and Celebrates 10 Years
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