- If you've seen my other videos,
you know that finding a great hearing care provider
is even more important than finding
the best set of hearing aids.
That's why in this video, I'm going over my checklist
to help you find a great hearing care provider near you.
Coming up.
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Hi guys, Cliff Olson, Doctor of Audiology
and founder of Applied Hearing Solutions in Anthem, 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.
Even the best hearing aids in the world don't matter
unless you have a hearing care provider who can maximize
the performance of those hearing aids.
I often think of it like a chef.
If you have a fantastic chef and you give them
good ingredients, they're gonna make you
something fantastic with those ingredients.
But if you have a bad chef and you give them
good ingredients, they're gonna make you
something not so good.
It'll probably be edible, but it won't be as fantastic
as what a really good chef could make you.
It's very similar to how things work
in the hearing aid world.
You can have a device, but unless you have someone
who knows how to get the maximum performance
out of that device for you, then you're not
gonna realize your full potential.
Finding an excellent hearing care provider
is just as tough as finding an excellent chef.
That's why at the urging of many of you,
I've created a checklist of things that you can
look for in a hearing care provider
to help you find the best one for you.
Now if you want to download the PDF version
of this checklist, I have it linked
in the description below.
Number one on the checklist is are they licensed?
Every single one of the 50 states in the United States
require licensure in order to dispense hearing aids.
So if you go to a hearing care provider
and they are not licensed to provide hearing aids
inside of that state, that is illegal
and you shouldn't go to them.
Number two is do they perform real ear measurement?
Now if you've seen any of my other videos,
you already know that real ear measurement is
one of the most critical things that has to be done
to ensure that hearing aids are fit appropriately.
Essentially without doing real ear measurement,
you have no clue whether or not those hearing aids
are programmed correctly to your hearing loss prescription.
Now if you want to know more about real ear measurement,
I highly recommend that you watch my video
that I will link in the card up here
and in the description below.
Number three is do they dispense hearing aids
from at least two different manufacturers?
There are clinics out there who will only dispense
one particular manufacturer brand of hearing aids,
and this is a bad thing because you may not be
the perfect candidate for the technology
that is inside of that one singular brand.
A lot of clinics will do this because they can typically
get better pricing by ordering just
from one manufacturer, but they shouldn't be doing this
if it is at the expense of what your needs are.
So if you're looking to go somewhere where they have
likely the best option for you, not the best option
for themselves, then you need to make sure
that you go to a hearing care provider
who has at least two different brand options.
Number four is will they spend over 30 minutes with you
at your initial appointment?
High quality care takes time, there's no way around it.
If they're rushing through the entire process
of trying to get hearing aids inside of your ears,
then what makes you think that they're gonna actually
maximize the performance of those hearing aids
once you decide to pursue treatment?
The best case scenario is is that they will spend plenty
of time with you to do a complete case history
so they have a complete understanding
of what your needs are, they will take time
doing the hearing test to include speech and noise testing,
and they will actually go over all of those test results
with you so you have a complete understanding
of your hearing difficulty.
Number five is do they provide
a comprehensive hearing aid fitting?
A lot of clinics will try to get around this
by giving you a free demo or free trial of hearing aids.
Essentially what they're doing is that they're putting
hearing aids on your ears, hitting the auto program button,
having you go home into your normal daily environments
for a week to two weeks, and then they're hoping
that when you come back to the clinic
that you're getting enough benefit
to justify spending the x amount of dollars
that they're gonna charge you for those hearing aids.
And if you're already willing to spend the money
on the hearing aids, then what is their incentive
to make sure that they're maximizing
the performance of those hearing aids?
So you really need to watch out for these free fittings.
The thing that you should really be looking for
is are they taking you through a step by step
fitting process or fitting protocol to ensure
that they're maximizing the performance
of your hearing aids?
Now if you want to learn more about what should be
included in a hearing aid fitting,
then I highly recommend that you watch my video
that I will link in the card up here
and in the description below.
Number six is do you feel like you're being
recommended a treatment plan?
Hearing loss is a medical condition
that requires ongoing treatment.
And a really good hearing care provider
is going to be able to explain to you
everything that they are going to do to you
and why when it comes to treating your hearing loss.
By the time they're done with you,
you should have a really good understanding
of what your hearing loss is.
You should have a really good understanding
of which technology they're recommending and why,
and you should have a really good understanding
of all of the care that will follow
being fit with those hearing aids.
If instead you feel like you're talking
to a used car salesman just trying to get you into
any pair of hearing aids, then you're probably talking
to the wrong hearing care professional.
Number seven is do they pre-schedule your follow-up care?
Really good hearing care providers know
that over the course of a year, you're gonna run into
little issues that they can actually take care of
if they have you come in regularly.
This prevents little things from blowing up into big things.
You don't know how often I see existing hearing aid users
who come into my clinic who haven't seen their
hearing care providers in years.
And all the issues that they're having
are things that could have been prevented
by just regular visits with their hearing care professional.
And the thing that blows my mind is
is that all this follow-up care typically
is already paid for, you just need to go in and use it.
Number eight is will you see the same hearing care provider
every single time you go back into that clinic?
Now there can be situations where you need to do
a walk in visit where you need to get something
really quickly changed out or repaired on your hearing aids.
You may have to see a technician for that.
But in the grand scheme of things, if you're going back in
for your regularly scheduled appointments,
you should be sticking with the same hearing care provider
who initiated your treatment, because they're the ones
who have a complete understanding
of what your situation is.
If they are passing you off onto other technicians
or other hearing care providers every single time
you come back in, that is really bad for continuity of care.
Finding a great hearing care provider can be difficult.
But if you're willing to put in the work
to find a hearing care provider who checks most of the yes
boxes on this checklist, then you'll be
well on your way to treatment success.
That's it for this video.
If you have any questions, please leave them
in the comments section below.
If you like the video, please share it.
And if you want to see other videos just like this one,
make sure you hit that subscribe button.
I'll see you next time.
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