Hearing Matters Podcast

Best Practices in Hearing Healthcare feat. Dr. Douglas L. Beck | Oticon


Listen Later

Send us a text

About the Hearing Matters Podcast

The Hearing Matters Podcast discusses hearing technology (more commonly known as hearing aids), best practices, and a growing national epidemic - Hearing Loss. The show is hosted by father and son - Blaise Delfino, M.S., HIS and Dr. Gregory Delfino, CCC-A. Blaise Delfino and Dr. Gregory Delfino treat patients with hearing loss at Audiology Services, located in Bethlehem, Nazareth, and East Stroudsburg, PA. 

What are Best Practices?

Dr. Beck explains that best practices are not set by individuals in the hearing healthcare profession. They are determined and codified by a group of national organizations. The International Hearing Society, the American Academy of Audiology, and the American Speech and Language Hearing Association assemble groups of experts, who come together and decide what practitioners need to do for their patients. They use outcomes-based research to make their determinations.

Best practices include, but are not limited to: air and bone conduction, word recognition, speech reception thresholds, otoacoustic missions, ipsi and contralateral reflexes, tympanometry, speech in noise testing, and communication and listening assessments.

Why are Best Practices Important?

Best practices follow the primary thought used by physicians: diagnose first, treat second. A physician will not prescribe antibiotics simply because a person has a cold. The cold could be caused by a virus, and antibiotics would not help. As with medical care, hearing healthcare is not one size fits all. Research has shown that people who go to practitioners who use best practices do much better than those who do not. Audiology Service strictly adheres to best practices, and only one percent of patients return because they are unhappy with their hearing instruments.

Real Ear Measurement

A procedure known as real ear verifies that the fitting the practitioner does is meeting the standards and is giving the patient the best possible hearing experience and meeting his/her goals. About 50 percent of hearing healthcare practitioners use real ear, but only about one in five use it on every patient. 

To do real ear the practitioner inserts an incredibly small microphone into the ear canal within five millimeters of the ear drum. A measurement is taken to determine how the patient’s ear canal responds to sound. The measurement is taken again with the hearing aid in the patient’s ear. The practitioner measures to determine if the hearing aid is producing the sound curve that is correct. If not, the patient may hear loud noises too loudly and soft noises not loud enough. The practitioner wants to get the most power for the quietest sounds and not increase the power when a sound is normally loud to the patient. If a hearing aid is not adjusted properly with real ear, the patient may suffer damage to his/her auditory system.

Discussions with the Patient

Dr. Beck explains that having a discussion with the patient is far better than giving him/her a questionnaire to fill out. It helps the patient feel secure with the practitioner’s expertise and gives the practitioner the chance to fully understand what the patient is experiencing and how

Connect with the Hearing Matters Podcast Team

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @hearing_matters_podcast

Twitter:
@hearing_mattas

Facebook: Hearing Matters Podcast

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Hearing Matters PodcastBy Hearing Matters

  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8

4.8

16 ratings


More shows like Hearing Matters Podcast

View all
Hidden Brain by Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam

Hidden Brain

43,483 Listeners

10% Happier with Dan Harris by 10% Happier

10% Happier with Dan Harris

12,553 Listeners

The Daily by The New York Times

The Daily

111,917 Listeners

Up First from NPR by NPR

Up First from NPR

56,231 Listeners

Feel Better, Live More with Dr Rangan Chatterjee by Dr Rangan Chatterjee: GP & Author

Feel Better, Live More with Dr Rangan Chatterjee

4,064 Listeners

The Proof with Simon Hill by Live better for longer

The Proof with Simon Hill

2,602 Listeners

A Bit of Optimism by Simon Sinek

A Bit of Optimism

2,190 Listeners

The Business of Hearing by Oli Luke

The Business of Hearing

11 Listeners

Huberman Lab by Scicomm Media

Huberman Lab

28,473 Listeners

The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

The Ezra Klein Show

15,321 Listeners

A Slight Change of Plans by Pushkin Industries

A Slight Change of Plans

2,066 Listeners

Honestly with Bari Weiss by The Free Press

Honestly with Bari Weiss

8,721 Listeners

This Week in Hearing by This Week in Hearing

This Week in Hearing

2 Listeners

The Mel Robbins Podcast by Mel Robbins

The Mel Robbins Podcast

20,562 Listeners

The Ultimate Human with Gary Brecka by Gary Brecka

The Ultimate Human with Gary Brecka

3,008 Listeners