- In this video, I'm talking about a major change
to the Dr. Cliff AUD Approved Provider Network.
Coming up.
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Hi guys.
Cliff Olson, doctor of audiology
and founder of Applied Hearing Solutions
in Phoenix, Arizona.
And on this channel,
I cover a bunch of hearing related information
to help make you a better informed consumer.
So if you're into that make sure you hit
that subscribe button and don't forget to click the bell
to receive your notification every time I post a new video.
Back in October of 2019,
I launched the Dr. Cliff AUD Approved Provider Network
with the goal of helping individuals with hearing loss
find a hearing care professional who follows best practices
when selecting, fitting and programming hearing aids
as well as providing long-term follow-up care.
Now, if you still do not know what best practices are
I highly recommend that you check out my video
that I will link in the description
because they are the only way to ensure
that your hearing aids provide you
with the maximum amount of benefit.
You see, each month my clinic receives hundreds of emails
and phone calls from individuals just like yourself,
looking for a hearing care professional in their local area
that follows the same best practices that I do.
The problem was before I developed the network,
I had no clue which providers were actually following
best practices and which ones weren't.
And since my reputation was on the line each time
I gave a recommendation on who to go to,
I decided that I needed to have a better way to identify
whether or not a different provider was practicing
at a gold standard level or not.
So the best way that I figured I could solve the problem
was to develop a network of hearing care professionals
that I would personally vet to ensure
that they're following best practices.
Let me give you an idea
of the criteria that is required to join.
Providers had to be a licensed audiologist
or a board certified hearing instrument specialist.
They had to agree to follow
the American Academy of Audiology best practice guidelines
as outlined in my best practice checklists.
They had to agree to only dispense unlocked hearing aids
and dispense hearing aids
from at least two different manufacturers
in order to avoid being overly biased
towards a single hearing aid brand.
They had to agree to act as a fiduciary on your behalf
putting your needs in front of their own.
They had to submit calibration records
for the equipment necessary to perform best practices.
They had to complete a webinar and pass the exam
at the end of the webinar with a 100% score.
And finally, they had to undergo an interview with me
all before paying their membership dues
and being added to the network of providers.
As it turns out over the course of the first year,
even with the COVID pandemic,
the network was extremely popular
among individuals with hearing loss
if they happened to live close to a network provider.
In my opinion, the network continues to be one of the best
and only ways to identify whether or not
the hearing care professional you go to
is actually going to be following best practices
when selecting, fitting, programming
and providing follow-up care with your hearing aids.
However, the thing that I do not like about the network
is this appearance that providers need to be approved by me
to be in the network.
After all I did not create best practices,
I just follow them.
And a lot of the hearing care professionals
who are in the network
have been following best practices for years.
And a lot of them have been practicing
significantly longer than I have.
So the idea was never to approve
whether or not a provider met my standards.
The idea was to help you identify
who is actually following best practices.
That's why as of right now,
I am changing the name of the network
from the Dr. Cliff AUD Approved Provider Network
to the Best Practice Pro Network.
This name change better represents
what I'm trying to accomplish with the network,
which is to help you identify whether or not
the hearing care professional that you're going to see
is actually following best practices.
And all of their providers
with the best practice pro designation are committed
to following best practices to help you achieve
your maximum level of performance with hearing aids.
To find a Best Practice Pro in your area,
all you need to do is go to my website, drcliffaud.com
and click on the find a local provider tab.
This will take you to a map locator page.
Once you're there, you can either use the search bar
to search for a Best Practice Pro by city or zip code
or you can click and drag the map to your area
and zoom in on the provider who is closest to you.
Once you identify the provider you want to see,
just give them a call or request an appointment
right on their provider page.
At the end of the day, my mission is simple.
I want you to be able to find
an excellent hearing care professional in your local area
who follows best practices,
so you can hear your absolute best with hearing aids.
So the next time that you're looking for someone
to help you treat your hearing loss,
make sure that you look for a Best Practice Pro.
That's it for this video.
If you have any questions
leave them in the comment section below.
If you liked the video, please share it.
And if you want to see other videos just like this one,
go ahead and hit that subscribe button.
Also feel free to check out my website drcliffaud.com.
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