“How much are your hearing aids?” That’s a question our Patient Care Coordinators (PCCs) often hear from prospective patients contacting our office for the first time. They’re shopping around, as they say. But the question misses the heart of the matter. Hearing aids are a tool of hearing healthcare. They aren’t hearing healthcare in themselves.
Our PCCs help prospective patients to understand that wherever/whenever you’re ‘buying hearing aids,’ you’re really signing up for hearing healthcare. The quality of that care and the results that follow over time will be directly correlated to the pathway chosen. Naturally, the dollar amount will be correlated as well.
But as we all know, paying less for something doesn’t always mean getting greater value. Sure, when I’m buying something that doesn’t require ongoing support or expertise (e.g. toilet paper or cereal), I’ll look for the best price for the specific brand I want. It’s completely transactional, though I certainly actively look to support local businesses whenever I can.
So why does hearing healthcare matter so much when ‘buying’ hearing aids? And more to the point, why does ongoing hearing healthcare matter?
If programming hearing aids was simply doing a basic hearing test and then plugging those results into software, it wouldn’t matter much where you go. It’s not simple. Taking into account the limitations of their damaged auditory system, initial fitting/programming and subsequent fine-tuning of hearing devices so that the person is hearing the world appropriately is a complex and time-consuming process. Showing folks how to properly use and care for their devices is also critical to maximizing their benefits.
Even setting programming/fine-tuning aside, I would still make a very strong argument that the ongoing support of the individual is critical to that person’s consistent success.
People depend on their ability to hear and communicate to navigate the world around them, whether at work or school, with family and friends. Communication is critical to our emotional and psychological well-being. For folks who are still working, being able to hear well may be the difference between success and failure.
One of the many positive comments we receive from our patients is how quickly we can address their problems. Nobody wants to be told that they won’t be able to hear well for a few weeks (maybe more) until they can be seen, or that they’ll be without their devices while those are out for service. We prioritize trying to see patients the same day if possible (or as soon as convenient for them) and provide loaner devices when needed. For people who depend on their hearing, problems with their devices are an emergency, which is why the provider needs to treat them like one.
But even apart from ‘emergency’ situations, we see the importance of consistent, ongoing care every day. I regularly see patients for their annual hearing prescription evaluation that feel their hearing has declined, only to find that their prescription hasn’t changed significantly and their hearing is quite stable. It was the performance of the hearing device that had declined. That is why we have patients coming in at least every six months to do maintenance on their devices, check for earwax accumulation, etc. Like hearing loss itself, performance decline is often such a slow progression that patients don’t really notice it until we get their devices working back up to manufacturer’s specifications.
Healthcare should never be a transactional process. Good hearing healthcare (healthcare in general, really) is an ongoing relationship of trust and dedication for the well-being of the patient.
Please continue to show that you love your community by supporting our local businesses and remembering the humanity of those around you.
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