According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication
Disorders:
- Approximately 28 million Americans have a hearing impairment.
- Incidence increases with age: Some 18 percent of adults age 45 to 64, 30 percent of those age 65 to 74, and 47 percent of
those 75 and older have diminished hearing.
- Only one person in five who could benefit from a hearing aid actually uses one.
As the last item makes clear, most people who need hearing amplification don't get it—perhaps because they're reluctant to
acknowledge that a problem exists, are unwilling or unable to purchase an expensive item, or are convinced that hearing aids
are clunky devices that don't help much.
If your patient population consists of many older adults—including aging baby boomers who are now paying a price for years
of exposure to rock concerts, cranked-up stereos, and leaf blowers—you can do them and your practice a lot of good if you
offer onsite audiology testing and dispense hearing aids as an ancillary service. To do so, you'll need to hire an audiologist, or bring one aboard as an independent contractor. And you'll have to invest
in some pricey equipment. But there's money to be made in hearing aid sales—potentially a lot. And audiology testing is reimbursable
if it's medically indicated.
Here's what you should know to get this service up and running.
Equipment
To provide full-service audiology—that is, to test patients and fit them with hearing aids—you'll need an approximately 7-foot-by-7-foot
audiometric test booth, an audiometer (to test hearing sensitivity), and a tympanometer that allows for acoustic reflex testing,
says Greg Ollick, president of Med-Acoustics, a distributor of audiometric test equipment in the South. You'll also need a
computer for the audiologist to program hearing aids and maintain records, as well as a NOAH software system and a HI-PRO
interfacing device to electronically program hearing aids and download that information into the aid. Manufacturers will supply
you with demo hearing aids and with software unique to their products.
If you're not going to sell hearing aids or provide pediatric testing, a small test booth (about 4-foot by 4-foot) will suffice.
Linda Vaughan, director of audiology practice management with the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association in Rockville,
MD, points out that the Americans with Disabilities Act requires that the test booth have wheelchair access. Audiologists
recommend that you shop locally for audiometers because the machines have to be calibrated yearly.
Space
A 12-foot-by-12-foot room for full-service audiology; a smaller room a little more than half that size if you're only providing
hearing evaluations for adults. (Hearing aid fitting and pediatric testing require the use of speakers that must be placed
a certain distance from the patient, so more space is needed.)
Staff/training
To determine licensing and CME requirements for audiologists to practice—and to dispense hearing aids—in your state, go to
http://www.asha.org/about/legisla/tion-advocacy/state. Audiologists are certified by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). To qualify for certification, the
audiologist must have a master's degree; in accordance with new standards that will go into effect in 2007, audiologists who
apply for certification after Dec. 31, 2011, will need a doctorate.
Practice Tools
