Hearing Health & Technology Matters

HearUSA’s wedding was marred briefly by a relative on the Canadian side named Duke Rodriguez who stood up and objected when the marriage officiant asked if there were objections to the marriage{{1}}[[1]]Just in case this ever comes up, here’s a site that tells you the etiquette for objecting to weddings [[1]]. Consequently, he was paid lots of money to stay away from

Since the beginning, our practice has sent letters to patients for their birthdays and, especially, for hearing aid warranty renewals, since many of manufacturers will renew warranties through five years.  After the manufacturer warranty renewals expire, we still send reminders for annual exams and then introduce incentives to upgrade.  When the manufacturers’ warranties are no longer available, third party hearing

In 2002, HEARx completed the acquisition of a national hearing care company.  To properly reflect its new position in the industry, the merged entity was renamed HearUSA.  2011 HearUSA advertorial In 2001 Siemens was a supplier–not an underwriter–of HEARx and Helix in the US and Canada.  Neither company was Siemens biggest customer, so it’s legitimate to ask why Siemens extended

In fast-changing technology product markets, there is a real advantage to controlling both the hardware and the software…  {{1}}[[1]]Thomas R. Eisenmann, Professor, Harvard Business School.  https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/21/sunday-review/google-goes-hardware-shopping.html?ref=todayspaper [[1]] Like Google and other successful corporations, my private practice aspires to “automated efficiency” and functions as a “learning machine.”  Unlike successful corporations, my practice doesn’t score high on the learning curve nor does it

One of my favorite stories from a mentor of mine, Dr. Earl Harford, started with an innocent question from his daughter.  “Daddy, what do you do all day?”  He said he thought about all of the hearing exams, hearing aid fittings, follow ups, and he just could not find a nice concise way of telling his young daughter what he

An Elevator Speech (statement or pitch) is something simple that many of us do, I am sure, without knowing.  This little pitch is how you describe yourself and what you do in as little as 30 seconds to 2 minutes.  This time period is approximately the span of an elevator ride.  It can be done in several different forms, by

In May of 2001, HEARx and Helix Hearing Care signed a letter of intent to join together.{{1}}[[1]] https://www.audiologyonline.com/news/news_detail.asp?news_id=295[[1]]  Wedding bells started ringing in June when the bride and groom announced a financing commitment from Siemens Hearing Instruments of upwards of $70 million “if Hearx and Helix meet certain business goals” which were breathlessly outlined in typical HEARx press release fashion: {{2}}[[2]]https://www.audiologyonline.com/news/news_detail.asp?news_id=258 [[2]] The arrangement provides

By Robert Sweetow When the first part of this story (see below) ended, the author, a prominent audiologist, was in a state of shock. As he recounted in last week’s Hearing View, he had unexpectedly overheard two fellow passengers on the Orient Express plotting what sounded like a sinister and possibly violent scheme. Following is the rest of the story:

HEARx entered the 21st century after a wild teenage life of excess, with lots of revenues, growing debt, a burgeoning central office, and negative profits.  HEARx was growing up and needed to get serious and find a life partner. Meanwhile, Helix Hearing, Inc. was incorporated in Cumberland, Canada in 1996 under the direction of Steve Forget (President), Jeff Giegel (CFO/VP), and Gino

Last week there was an article in the New York Times{{1}}[[1]] https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/02/health/policy/02consumer.html [[1]]about waiting times in physicians offices.  In the Hearing Health Industry we sometimes divide ourselves into a “medical” model or a “retail” model.  There are strengths in each and we should draw from both, but in terms of staying on time with appointments the retail model will bode