Last month I introduced you to the 7th member of the team. Sometimes a good person is just not a good fit. We are looking for a patient care coordinator to join our team. A warm, friendly individual who would like to improve the quality of people’s lives is the person we are looking for. Skills can be taught. Office experience would be helpful. If you or someone you know would like to join our team, please send them our way.
Last month I also shared with you an ongoing experience about a friend of mine’s father who had a sudden change in hearing after a single loud exposure from a power tool. After several rounds of prednisone without any improvement in hearing, hearing treatment was recommended. He informed me that he purchased not one, but two sets of hearing aids online that were not comfortable to wear and did not improve his ability to understand family conversations or communicate with his wife in the home.
After two attempts to improve his hearing ability on his own, he decided hearing aids were not for him. After a very long conversation, he agreed to schedule an appointment for a Functional Hearing Assessment. During the two hours we spent together I evaluated his understanding ability in noise, determined if he had a noise tolerance issue and did a screening measure of his cognitive processing ability. After gathering all that information (we had his beep tone test results from before) it was time to listen to prescriptive hearing technology.
Since we work with three of the six big major hearing aid manufacturers, we usually narrow down the recommendations to two and evaluate improvement. How his brain processes information is unique to him. This process ensures we are making the best recommendations for his individual needs.
As part of the Functional Hearing Assessment, we measure the ear canal and use this information to ensure prescriptive hearing targets are being made…. that soft sounds are audible and loud sounds are not too loud. Just like our eyes have a prescription when glasses are needed, hearing has a similar type of prescription. If you don’t measure, you don’t know what you are getting.
Once the two sets of hearing devices were programmed we completed speech in noise testing in the hearing booth again to objectively determine understanding ability. Well…needless to say, he was amazed. He could not believe the dramatic improvement he experienced that he did not experience with the two online sets of hearing aids he purchased. He is coming in next week for his prescriptive hearing aid fitting!
Over the counter and direct to consumer hearing aids have their place, BUT…I strongly encourage you to consider the guidance of a hearing healthcare provider through your journey to better hearing. So, if you have purchased devices elsewhere and they have not worked for you, please give us the opportunity to be your partner for better hearing.
Medicare open enrollment is upon us again. Be sure you understand what you are getting with the Medicare Advantage plans you have chosen. We canceled all of our contracts with third party networks for hearing aids, as they were dictating what we can and cannot do for our patient. No insurance company will tell us how to care for our folks. Since we are a member of Entheos Audiology Cooperative we have access to reduced pricing for those that have discounted hearing aids available through their insurance company. Know that we have many options.
If you would like more information, to schedule an appointment, please give Jamie or Diane a call at 704-633-0023. Remember to like us on Facebook and check out our website: www.hearingsolutionsofnc.com. Dr. Mussler, Jane, Cheryl and I look forward to seeing you soon.