Hearing Health & Technology Matters

Nick Fitzgerald has served as HHTM’s Chief Marketing Officer for the past 3 years. He is the President and Owner of AuDSEO, a full service digital marketing agency. With over 15 years of digital marketing experience, Nick is a highly data-driven marketer, with expertise in search engine optimization, digital analytics and forensics, social media, digital advertising, and web development. He has been involved in the construction and optimization of nearly 1,000 web presences, including some of the largest Fortune 500 companies.

Featured image for “Hissy Fits and Stalking Horses: Unraveling HearUSA, part 20”

Hissy Fits and Stalking Horses: Unraveling HearUSA, part 20

Hearing Health & Technology Matters

In a matter of months, the big shots at HearUSA went from thinking of the many ways they were going to spend their millions to losing their jobs and getting pennies on the dollar for their shares. (An insider’s view of Spring 2011 at HearUSA) I always thought this next-to-final chapter would be entitled “Clash of the Titans” with Oticon and Siemens

Let’s all get involved in looping America

Hearing Health & Technology Matters

By David H. Kirkwood One of the most exciting recent developments in the hearing care field is the growing use of induction loops in both public and private spaces. As Dr. David Myers, probably America’s most prominent advocate for hearing loops, wrote on this blog several month ago: “The animating vision behind the Loop America campaign is nothing short of

Customer Service: Theirs and Ours

Hearing Health & Technology Matters

In the past month a business associate and I have experienced disappointing customer service. A few examples have come from hearing aid manufacturers. In one instance the manufacturer sent hearing aids out, but did not “connect” the serial numbers in their system to a specific patient name. Instead of just fixing the error in their system the hearing aids had

Why I blog

Hearing Health & Technology Matters

From time to time on Hearing Views, I ask one of my colleagues at Hearinghealthmatters.org to reflect on why he or she blogs. This week, Gael Hannan, editor of the Better Hearing Consumer section of our blog, gives us this moving account of what has inspired her to share her experiences with our readers. David H. Kirkwood, Editor, Hearing Views

Featured image for “Abandon Ship! Unraveling HearUSA Part 19”

Abandon Ship! Unraveling HearUSA Part 19

Hearing Health & Technology Matters

Ship’s log for the HearUSA Enterprise,March-May, 2011. March 17, 2011: Siemens moves to exercise its rights as a secured creditor to take over HearUSA in an SEC petition containing the reassuring note that it “plans to continue operating HearUSA’s business, but … make significant changes to make them more profitable…” Comment: It’s about time. March 16-19, 2011: Siemens USA President Brian

What is Your Disaster Plan?

Hearing Health & Technology Matters

There are so many matters to which small business owners must attend that at times there is a tendency to rely on the “Ignorance is Bliss” adage. But there are some things for which we must be prepared at all times. We have a great resource for enumerating those items which must be readily available (e.g., like bank account numbers)

How a joint publishing initiative brought two former rivals together

Hearing Health & Technology Matters

By David H. Kirkwood During the seven months or so since a group of us launched Hearinghealthmatters.org, one of the most gratifying aspects for me has been having the privilege of working together with such an outstanding group of colleagues. Collectively, our founding editors and those editors who have joined us since last April bring to this initiative a remarkable

Featured image for “To Be or Not To Be: Unraveling HearUSA part 18”

To Be or Not To Be: Unraveling HearUSA part 18

Hearing Health & Technology Matters

Last I checked, HearUSA was set to perish on the railroad tracks because it couldn’t or wouldn’t pay its loans to Siemens.{{1}}[[1]]Despite conflicting reports, HearUSA claimed in its 2009 SEC Annual Report that “The Company repaid approximately $8.1 million of Siemens debt from the proceeds of this transaction during 2009, as required under the agreement with Siemens.”[[1]] True to form, HearUSA’s

Musical Ear Syndrome – Auditory Memory versus Auditory Hallucinations

Hearing Health & Technology Matters

Most practitioners have had a client with various types of simple tinnitus (ringing, buzzing, chirping, etc.). Many others hear more complex sounds (music or voices), but do not report it in their case history because they fear being diagnosed as “crazy”. The latter is known as Musical Ear Syndrome (MES), and includes hearing voices singing, bands or orchestras playing, or

Featured image for “Giant Roars, Heroine Screams: Unraveling HearUSA Part 17”

Giant Roars, Heroine Screams: Unraveling HearUSA Part 17

Hearing Health & Technology Matters

The HearUSA-AARP contract (posts 15 and 16 of this series) is captured best by the question: What were they thinking? Siemens was thinking that it was a “crummy deal” according to one shareholder. HearUSA’s CEO Steve Hansbrough seems to have been thinking how much smarter HearUSA was than manufacturers like Siemens. In an interview with audiologyonline, Mr Hansbrough did not portray the manufacturers as the