Dr. Hosford-Dunn began blogging in her audiology private practice in Tucson, AZ. Back in 2009, blogging was a new and interesting way to quickly share and improve information with colleagues, consumers, and patients. As blogging gained attention, she had the opportunity to serve as chief editor of a multi-author blog for an hearing industry publication. The format was fun and successful. It rapidly evolved into Hearing Health & Technology Matters! (HHTM), an independent blogsite that she founded in partnership with other colleagues in 2011. Since its inception, Dr. Hosford-Dunn has served as HHTM’s first Editor-in-Chief, then Managing Editor, and now is CFO of the organization. After graduating with a BA and MA in Communication Disorders from New Mexico State, she completed a PhD in Hearing Sciences at Stanford and did post-docs at Max Planck Institute (Germany) and Eaton-Peabody Auditory Physiology Lab (Boston). Post-education, she directed the Stanford University Audiology Clinic; developed multi-office private practices in Arizona; authored/edited numerous text books, chapters, journals, and articles; and taught Marketing, Practice Management, Hearing Science, Auditory Electrophysiology, and Amplification in a variety of academic settings. Dr. Hosford-Dunn participates in life long learning by writing weekly posts and by embracing sequential learning endeavors. She spent a year training with the Gemological Institute of America, gaining certification as a Graduate Gemologist (GIA). She graduated with a B.A. in Economics and Psychology from the University of Arizona in 2013. Currently — and probably forever — she studies the Spanish language.
Featured image for “Mucking Around with Hearing Aid Price, Again”
Jun. 14, 2016

Mucking Around with Hearing Aid Price, Again

Holly Hosford-Dunn
by Holly Hosford-Dunn, PhD and Amyn Amlani,PhD   The Pricing series revs up for a multi-year update today, just in time to get in on the PCAST and IOM action of recent days and await signs from the FDA.  In 2013, the announced intent was to “dive down and muck around with Price to test accepted assumptions.”  Time for more
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Jun. 07, 2016

On the PCAST Report and the FDA Hearings

Holly Hosford-Dunn
Downstream Consequences of Aging is a bi-monthly series written by guest columnist Barbara Weinstein, PhD.  Today’s post is especially timely, on the heels of the IOM final report and anticipating the FDA review process that generated 160 stakeholder comments.1    The focus of the public workshop hosted by the FDA on April 21, entitled “Streamlining for Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP)
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May. 31, 2016

Waiting for the Second Shoe (of Three) to Drop

Holly Hosford-Dunn
“Peeling the Onion” is a monthly column by Harvey Abrams, PhD.   Before we get started, a disclaimer: This post will name names – hearing aid products, a health insurance company, and hearing health care benefit programs. I have no financial or non-financial interests in any of the products/companies mentioned except as a subscriber to the GEHA national health insurance
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May. 24, 2016

Barriers in the US Hearing Aid Market, post script

Holly Hosford-Dunn
Since its inception, Hearing Economics has toiled persistently, if not rigorously, to infuse basic economic thinking and its lexicon into the audiology world. The goal is to broaden our view, giving us more opportunities to strengthen our grip on our profession. In that spirit, the five-post barriers series fits into the Econ 202 discourse which pops up occasionally.  Econ posts
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May. 17, 2016

End of Barriers, Part 4

Holly Hosford-Dunn
This is the almost-final Econ 202 post on barriers that exist in the US hearing aid manufacturing and delivery system.1   Parts 1,  2 and 3 addressed regulatory requirements that discourage new entrants; legal and economic definitions of barrier to industry entry/exit; structural and strategic barriers in the hearing aid industry; and specific strategic barriers used by incumbent manufacturers in their competitive response against entry firms.
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May. 10, 2016

US Hearing Device Patents March-April 2016

Holly Hosford-Dunn
Some anecdotal observations precede the current hearing aid patent list, some superficial, others not so much. Best Name for a New Entrant:  Brain Basket, LLC (Auditory Comprehension and Audibility Device, #9301066)   Who’s Got the Power   The big developing technology–accounting for over 10% of today’s list–is extended, connected, sustainable, or implantable power solutions. Big 6 and CI manufacturers own
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May. 03, 2016

Strategic Barriers in the Hearing Aid Industry, Part 3

Holly Hosford-Dunn
There are no barriers that discourage new entrants to the hearing aid industry (previous post at HHTM). Part 1 of the barrier series itemized regulatory requirements that discourage new entrants; Part 2 distinguished between legal and economic definitions of barrier to industry entry/exit and briefly described some structural and strategic barriers in the hearing aid industry. Today’s post describes more strategic
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Apr. 26, 2016

Do High Profits Stymie Innovation and Swell Prices? Unsticking Adam Smith’s Hand

Holly Hosford-Dunn
“Signal & Noise” is a bimonthly column by Brian Taylor, AuD.   Profits are an essential part of a free enterprise system. They provide employees and their families with an income, give shareholders a return, foster innovation and signal where capital needs to be invested in order to improve or grow a business.   Profit Margins Reveal and Conceal  
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Apr. 19, 2016

Let’s Hear It From the Providers

Holly Hosford-Dunn
Amidst technological disruption and social policy discussions that cast a pall over the dispensing landscape, it is surprisingly refreshing to hang out with fellow travellers.  That term, often a pejorative, best describes the relationship of Hearing Economics to the world of audiology and hearing aids: “a person who sympathizes with the beliefs of an organization or cooperates in its activities
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Apr. 12, 2016

John’s Journey Continues: Taking Action, Part 3

Holly Hosford-Dunn
“Peeling the Onion” is a monthly column by Harvey Abrams, PhD. John’s current stop on his patient journey is the action stage – that stage of the journey when John, after contemplation and preparation, initiates change and takes action to resolve his communication problems. Recall that the Transtheoretical (changes of change) Model consists of 6 stages: pre-contemplation contemplation preparation action