Is the hard of hearing world really moving towards a world of over the counter hearing
aids and self fitting options?
Stick around for this video to find out.
Hello, if you're new to my channel my name is Emily.
I created Definite Hearing as a way to increase awareness for the hard of hearing, I'm hard
of hearing myself, I was diagnosed with my hearing loss at birth, and I was fitted with
hearing aids at four months old, I love my hearing aids, so so so much.
Check them out.
I have moderat to severe, which means like, I can start hearing that the sound of a vacuum
cleaner, and my hearing loss is genetic, my loss is a sensorineural hearing loss, which
means that there is damage to my inner ear cells and or on my auditory-nerve pathway,
I'm just so grateful for my hearing aids because it compensates for that sensorineural hearing
loss.
A friend recently shared an article with me and called the “Rise of Disruptors in Hearing
Healthcare” by Karl Strom.
In this article, Mr. Strom talks about how with the passing of the FDA legislation in
2017 for over the counter hearing aids to now, there are so many over the counter hearing
aids that are going to hit the market.
Now, the FDA has not released their standards of protocol for over the counter hearing aids,
but this has created a lot of mixed feelings in the hard of hearing community and especially
with audiologists, about providing a solid standard of care.
In his writing, Mr. Strom mentioned that there have been a lot of different hearing devices,
some have been successful and some have not been unsuccessful.
These hearing devices include the Bragi Dash, which was Starkey partnering up with Bragi
to create a hearing wearable and essentially what this is is that it just amplifies sound.
Another unsuccessful hearing accessory I guess you could say, We're Doppler Labs Dubs, these
are like glorified earplugs, they look pretty cool and sleek, they also have some really
funny reviews, there was a law passed in 2017 that required that the FDA come out with over
the counter hearing aid requirements and standards by late 2020 due to COVID and other things
they just haven't done that yet, but there are a lot of hearing wearables that are waiting
to enter the market once the FDA announces these standards for hearing devices, there
are some small companies and some really big notable companies, these small companies include
NuHeara, Eargo, Lucid Audio, and more big companies are big players in this potential
over the counter hearing aid market including Google, Bose, and Apple.
Am I really surprised?
No.
My biggest concern is, are these companies going to employ hearing experts or audiologists?
I hope so.
It is important to note that before Coronavirus the standard of care for Audiology, especially
in America, was in person care, and still is.
Telehealth care has become more predominant, especially in the VA and the united healthcare
insurance jurisdictions.
In person health care was just always the standard before this, it just, people did
it, there was one branch in Australia called Blamey and Saunders Hears that did telehealth
appointments and predominantly did their hearing aid appointments via telehealth.
This means that people would get on camera, talk to their audiologist and be sent to hearing
aids in the mail.
Now, just so you're aware, that is not and was not really legal in the US, until the
FDA was required to create over the counter, hearing aid regulations and they haven't done
that yet they still need to do that but essentially what we're moving towards and what Mr. Strom
is talking about in his article is that there are some big market disruptors on the horizon,
essentially, it has not been allowed to have telehealth and just mailing hearing aids to
people, that is looking like it's going to be allowed in the future.
For example, Florida, just passed a law, CS/SB 700 that says that people above the age of
18 are allowed to mail hearing devices to other people.
Well when you start to define it, this essentially means that anyone with a license or without
a license depending on where you're at in Florida can mail someone hearing aids, that
is just a fact of that law.
And there are a lot of really interesting opinions on that.
Some people think, “no that should not be allowed because we need to maintain a standard
of care for people with hearing loss,” and other people think like, “Awesome.
Now I can get my hearing aids from anywhere and anyone,” and the laws of capitalism
will drive the cost of your needs down, regardless, audiology appointments have gone from strictly
being in person, to being a mix of in person and telehealth, to becoming strictly telehealth
and now there are rumors that it could be strictly DIY hearing aid fittings.
This is wild.
Thank you for sticking around to the end this video I just want to give my thoughts on all
these facts in this article, let's start back in the beginning, Bose, Apple, Google, Apple
are undoubtedly a lot more expensive, and I personally use Apple products because I
like them, and I'm willing to pay more for them, so it will be really interesting to
see if over the counter hearing aids will really become more accessible.
They are more accessible but will they be less expensive, we're going to have to see
what do you think, do you think that Apple will come out with a hearing aid that's less
expensive than Phone X hearing aids ReSound hearing aids or other name brand hearing aids.
Do you think that there'll be more expensive?
Regardless, I want to hear in the comments below, please share some other thoughts I
have on this are regarding the standard of care.
Now, I love myself, I trust myself but I do not know what I do not hear, that is the hardest
part about a hearing loss, and the idea of self fitting, though it is tempting and though
I am like a penny pincher.
I understand the expertise of a doctor and the expertise of someone to look at the scientific
mapping of my hearing aid and say like, we need to adjust this, like I definitely want
to educate myself and be able to understand what my audiogram says, but I don't want to
have to do all the work that an audiologist has done in their years of schooling, so the
idea of self fitting for me, even telehealth for me.
I dislike it, I value personal contact.
I value going to someone who knows what they're talking about and has expertise in it, and
quite frankly is passionate about it.
I don't think I've ever met an audiologist that is not passionate about what they do.
I mean they went through eight years of schooling to get where they're at, and a lot of people
get weeded out, so naturally, the people that are audiologists are passionate about it,
they love giving back, they love helping people here.
And so the idea of telehealth, the lack of that true human contact like, I don't know
if I'm just creating it because of Coronavirus right now like, I'm so sick of zoom calls.
I'm so sick like FaceTime, I just want to be with people, I just don't like that idea
and then the idea of self fitting.
How will I ever know what I'm missing out on, I won't know the only reason I know that
like, I'm not hearing something is because those around me told me, they're like, Hey,
you didn't hear what I said this is what I said, or hey like I noticed your speech is
getting a little garbled or you're not saying your consonants, at the end of your words,
like, I just want to know and I want to know that I want to like be aware of myself but
I can't do that fully from the inside out.
Sometimes I need help from the outside in.
So, whoa, I definitely thought a lot about Mr. Strong's article, It was super insightful
and I'm really interested to see where this kind of all pans out and I would love to hear
your thoughts.
What are your thoughts on over the counter hearing aids, what are your thoughts on these
hearing aid disruptors, what do you think it will do to pricing, what do you think it
will do to the standard in quality of hearing aid and audiology care, I would love to hear
in the comments below, please don't hesitate to share, there are going to be so many opinions
across the board, and guess what, I don't think there's one opinion that's right, I
think we're all different and everyone has a different opinion for themselves, and I'm
all for having all the options and letting people choose what's best for that.
Thank you so much for watching this video if you haven't already, please like this video
and subscribe to my channel, I look forward to making more great videos for you, please
remember to stay strong, and stay amazing!
Have a great day.
Bye.