What’s In a Hearing Number? An Interview with Frank Lin, MD, PhD
Frank Lin, MD, PhD, discusses the Know Your Hearing Number campaign and why this concept can help break down barriers to hearing care.
Frank Lin, MD, PhD, discusses the Know Your Hearing Number campaign and why this concept can help break down barriers to hearing care.
Audiology Practice Standards Organization (APSO) announced that it has published a formal standard of practice for fitting hearing aids to adult patients. The standard is based on common clinical practices of audiologists across the US, as well as research into the practices that achieve expected outcomes with hearing aids, according to the announcement.
By joining the program, hearing care professionals can learn how to apply person-centered care in their practice through two dedicated online courses. Once they have completed the courses, they receive the “Inspired by Ida” label—a “benchmark of quality,” according to the Ida Institute, which can be easily shared across social media and various digital platforms.
Fear can be a good thing. It can help us sharpen our skills, remain careful and competent when performing procedures, and look beyond protocols to explore other questions we should be asking our patients.
Read MoreHearing care professionals must communicate at a number of levels. Informational and motivational counseling help us move people along with their treatment plan, but we should consider the methods we use to ensure there is effective communication.
Read MoreIt is not easy to bring patients into the clinic these days. So when a patient does walk through the door of your office, you want to give them an exceptional customer experience. Establishing trust, making the necessary tweaks to achieve a high level of customer satisfaction (delight) at every step, and laying the groundwork for future patient advocacy creates long-term value with your patient, and long-term dividends for your business.
Read MoreHearing is important, but not necessarily a priority for many of the people we see. If people have gone to the trouble to seek services from us, there is an unspoken message that hearing may be a priority for them, but they may not know it as such. Dennis Van Vliet suggests that, if we can shape our conversation with patients into a discussion of activities in their life that are important to them, it may not be necessary to force the question of how important hearing is to them.
Read MoreDr Van Vliet discusses how helping patients achieve better hearing requires a process with many elements: recognizing a problem, learning about it, doing something, and coming to the understanding that solutions are complex and often incomplete.
Read MoreDr Van Vliet discusses how our experience and knowledge base is critical to practicing effectively. However, if we do not continue to learn about and adopt new techniques, tools, and products that are appropriate for our practices, we fall behind in our responsibilities.
Read MoreDr Van Vliet discusses how we can help patients define what they want. They may only know that they are annoyed by their inability to understand speech in certain environments. If we build an approach that patients see is unique and specific for their needs, it may help shape their perception of the outcome.
Read MoreDr Van Vliet discusses how things we may feel to be absolute truths can turn out to be different than what we learned and, just like tying our shoes, we must open our minds to adjusting how we do things for better patient outcomes.
Read MoreThis article explains why the waiting room of your practice is crucial to setting the tone for patients, and how you can dramatically impact and positively address the emotional triggers and questions of first-time patients.
Read MoreAuthor Von Hansen uses a case example to illustrate how a hearing care professional can insert 4 objectives into a patient history consult to transform it into a vital component of the counseling protocol.
Read MoreAuthor Roy Bain explains how framing ideas in ways patients can easily understand positively reinforces their decision about purchasing a hearing aid.
Read MoreWe don’t always remember to update the training materials we send home with new patients. Dr Van Vliet explains why audiololists should update their patient-training materials to reflect current technology, and offer patients more training options and strategies for improving their listening experiences.
Read MoreSiemens Hearing Instruments recently held its first “Active Kids and Teens BestSound” training event at its New Jersey facility. Thirty hearing care professionals from around the country attended the two-day meeting, which focused on product solutions and patient counseling geared to children, tweens, and teens.
Read MoreThis article 1) Summarizes research confirming the Hearing Aid Effect, and 2) presents a survey from three regions of the United States regarding dispenser attitudes toward the “cosmetics vs performance” issue, the profile of cosmetically sensitive patients, counseling strategies used with these patients, and suggestions for the hearing care field regarding the emphasis placed on hearing aid cosmetics.
Read MoreThis article provides an organized approach to hearing instrument orientation and adjustment to be used by the practicing hearing care professional.
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