by Terry Mactaggart, President and CEO, Summus Hearing
Terry Mactaggart
My recent post about “Moving the Meter for Hearing Health” summarized a perspective gained over the last decade as the hearing health market evolved. That, for me, started with an article published in Audiology Practices (Winter, 2013) where, as a business professional and hearing tech company founder, I noted that concentrated industry structure and bundled trade practices would inevitably lead to disruption and the introduction of new hearing care models. Several posts followed about “Navigating the Road Ahead” concluding with those during the last couple of years when “Disruptions” were described as becoming more obvious.
A complimentary insight stemmed from the substantial data set we have accumulated from testing in several different settings (family physicians, hearing aid dispensaries, pharmacies, public spaces) covering a wide demographic from young children to Super Seniors. Given our ability to interpret pure tone results and place them in standard audiological categories, we were able to determine the proportion of users in various age cohorts who classified as Normal, Conductive, Sensorineural, and Mixed.
A third stimulus continues to come from the research community – numerous studies and articles stressing the growing incidence of hearing problems, comorbidities with other disease states and relationships to cognitive concerns.
This combination of influences has led me (corroborated by others) to conclude that Hearing Loss is arguably the largest untreated chronic health problem in our society and that current approaches, several innovative and progressive, are not doing enough to stem the still rising tide.
The traditional market approach has long been limited in scope. While identifying hearing loss and prescribing hearing aids are essential components of hearing health, they are only pieces of a much larger puzzle. Many aspects of an individual’s hearing health, except when examined carefully by a skilled professional, go unaddressed, leaving gaps in care that can impact overall well-being. This is particularly true of internet-based testing.
Critical factors that are frequently overlooked include:
- Age and Messaging: Position in one’s life cycle is an obvious consideration. While the proportions of so-called “Normals” are higher at younger ages and “Sensorineurals” increase with older people, most virtual testing doesn’t account for the age factor. And clearly the messages provided as motivators to different age cohorts with similar classifications need to be different and nuanced.
- Lifestyle Considerations: One’s daily activities, hobbies, and work environment all play a significant role in hearing health. Standard tests rarely account for these differences, leading to one-size-fits-all solutions.
- Overall Health: Conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and even stress can influence hearing health significantly. These factors are often ignored particularly in net-based hearing assessments, yet they are crucial for understanding the full picture of auditory well-being.
- Personal Preferences: The decision to use hearing aids or other interventions is deeply personal. Factors such as comfort, aesthetics, and lifestyle compatibility should be considered, but they are often sidelined in the rush to fit a device.
This narrow approach can result in missed opportunities for early intervention, underutilization of preventive measures, and suboptimal care that fails to address the unique needs of each individual.
Bridging those gaps by offering a more holistic and personalized approach to hearing care will contribute to redefining how we think about and manage hearing health. Rather than waiting longer, we have decided at Summus to embark on an ambitious project which, when fully available, should help “Move the Meter” in a significant way. It is being branded “Merlin” and represent a major, potentially breakthrough, addition to our well-established Hearing Guidance Process.
An introductory description reads…
And is amplified by the hearing healthcare problems it is designed to address…
Our hope is, that with sufficient backing, an “AI Companion” like Merlin – a capability still scarce but likely to see more in healthcare – will become conventional in use.
Breaking down silos to foster greater collaboration, mandating doctors to add hearing to their protocols, new applications of AI and more robust, well funded policy initiatives would also make a positive difference. My wish, over time, is that that the hearing ecosystem will mature to approximate what has been achieved in other disease arenas. And that’s a Big Wish!
Join Us in Making a Difference
Hearing health should not be a luxury. It’s a fundamental part of overall well-being, and everyone deserves access to it. By supporting our Indiegogo campaign, you’re joining a movement to make hearing health accessible to all. Together, we can break down the barriers that prevent millions from getting the care they need: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/merlin#/
“Let’s make hearing health a universal right. Invest in Merlin today and help us transform lives across the globe.”
—Terry Mactaggart
About the Author
Terry Mactaggart, MBA, is the president and CEO of Summus Hearing. He can be contacted at [email protected] or visit https://summushearing.com
