I'd like to add to that discussion by sharing this next article with you. It was written by Ross Cushing, Au.D. Dr. Cushing is the director of A&A Hearing Group in Maryland.
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Increasingly, hearing aids are being sold online, through catalogs, and directly to the consumer, bypassing the hearing healthcare professional. Even Hammacher Schlemmer, a gift and gadget retailer, is selling hearing aids as an over-the-counter product.
Here's the problem. Although it is true that the distributors of these products can almost always provide hearing aids at lower costs, the purchase and use of a hearing aid without a proper examination, diagnosis, fitting, programming and counseling is a recipe for poor treatment outcomes and increased health risks.
There are many potential causes of hearing loss including aging, blockages, ear infections, fistulas, head injury, medication, Meniere's disease, noise damage, otosclerosis, and tumors. Many cannot be treated with a hearing aid and may require a cochlear implant instead. Several require immediate medical intervention. If they buy via a catalog, how will consumers know when to seek medical attention? They won't. What's more, hearing loss can result from the improper fitting or programming of instruments.
Most hearing aid manufacturers will not allow their hearing aids to be sold or purchased without a face-to-face consultation with a licensed practitioner. They recognize the risks of buying and using them without the proper counseling and fitting that only a licensed hearing healthcare professional can provide.
Customers value professional input as well. Research by trade group Hearing Industries Association using MarkeTrac data provided by Sergei Kochin, Ph.D., the executive director of the Better Hearing Institute in Virginia, has shown that the top reasons for patient satisfactions with hearing aids are directly attributable to his experience with a trained hearing professional. The technology is successful only when a professional has evaluated the hearing loss and prescribed a customized solution.
There are four important components in the audiology model that are necessary-and absent-from the direct-to-consumer model:
1. Proper Evaluation. A battery of audiology tests will evaluation if medical treatment is necessary and if a hearing aid is even needed.
2. Individualized device setup. A hearing aid has to have the right hardware and software for the needs of the individual. It has to physically fit correctly. It has to be tuned and configured to the individual's dynamic range of hearing. And finally, it has to be used correctly.
3. Psychological considerations and counseling. A hearing aid is not a normal consumer product. It is a medical device. On average, people know they have a hearing problem for seven years before they do something about it. They wonder: "What will other people think about me if they know I have a hearing aid?" There are communication issues to be addressed, and there is often a fear of having to rely on an artificial device.
From the perspective of someone who has never gone through the process of getting hearing aids, getting hearing aids through a catalog may seem simpler. They can try it in their own time and see if it workds. In theory this soudns attractive, especially for new users who aren't ready to confront their own perceptions of wearing hearing aids or for those who want to keep costs low. But does this work?
It's like putting a Band-Aid on a broekn arm. Although on the surface it may seem as if better hearing can be more accessible if provided in a direct-to-consumer way, in reality it is not practical or effective, and in many case, not safe. Fitting hearing aids is an art that is guided by science and delivered by the experience of a hearing healthcare professional.
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