Christine Diles

Christine Diles has been a clinical audiologist since 1980, working in both private practice and medical settings. She has worked alongside physicians in their offices as well as in a hospital based clinic affording her the experience of working with a wide variety of patient populations. She has also been involved in rehabilitation, concentrating on the dispensing hearing aids and patient education. Christine also recently served as a consultant to the Product Development team at Sycle.net. At Sycle, she assisted in guiding development and enhancements of the software to better serve the needs of those of us in private practice.

Harnessing the Power of Hollywood – Part 2

Christine Diles

The Movie Theater business is exactly that….a business. We go to be entertained but to the owner and employees, it’s a job: a business, a livelihood, it’s how they pay their bills. Theater owners face the same challenges that private-practice hearing care providers face, or any business, for that matter. They need to manage the P&L, hire and train employees,

All in the Family

Christine Diles

Like all of us, the question of “What do you do?” comes up regularly. When I say, “I’m an audiologist,” I often get blank looks. As all audiologists know, there usually needs to be a tag line. My tag line generally goes something like this, “I take care of people with hearing loss.” It’s getting better…I had to bring out my

Harnessing the Power of Hollywood

Christine Diles

THE PLOT: Hollywood…..fame, fortune, bright lights, red carpets, beautiful people, grandiosity, power and influence. The film industry has the ability to sway thought, fashion and culture. Whether it be social issues, politics or how we look; Hollywood shapes our attitudes and behavior and they want us to go to the movies! Thirty-five million Americans are living with some degree of

Risky Business

Christine Diles

You’ve heard it said, “When you work for yourself, you work for a real tyrant.” A seasoned and successful businessman friend recently gave us another pearl: “If owning a business were easy, everyone would have one.” When you’re the boss, you get to make the rules. You can close early; you can set policy, pricing and salaries. Ah, the rewards

The Big Battery Deal

Christine Diles

Speaking of batteries, they seem to be a huge part of the hearing care provider’s day, albeit not generally a huge part of revenue. A study published by a hearing aid manufacturer in 2009 reported that when looking at total practice revenue, batteries constituted 7% on average. While I can’t quantify, I feel like we spend more than 7% of

Assault and Battery in the Ear Canal

Christine Diles

This week we welcome Ross Roeser as a guest with very useful information for those of us looking in ear canals every day. Ross Roeser, PhD, is Professor and Head of the Doctor of Audiology Program at the University of Texas at Dallas/Callier Center for Communication Disorders, and Executive Director Emeritus of the Callier Center. He is also Editor-in-Chief of

The “M” Word Again

Christine Diles

My father-in-law always told us that if we didn’t “market” our practice, it would be like a guy winking at a girl in the dark. That pretty girl wouldn’t know that guy was alive :). Audiologists have historically been reluctant marketers but I think we all can agree that it’s a necessary part of being (and remaining) independent. Sara Bloom,

Hearing Aids and Telephones

Christine Diles

For people who wear hearing aids, using the telephone can be frustrating. Not only can hearing and understanding be difficult, but feedback generated by placing the handset near the hearing aid can be distracting and annoying. The evolution of and dependence upon telecommunications in our society cannot be overstated. Phones are everywhere and everyone is on them. In a recent

Can Lyric….?

Christine Diles

A disruptive innovation is an innovation that helps to create a new market. Sometimes it will also disrupt an existing market, displacing an earlier technology. The term is used in business and technology to describe innovations that improve a product or service in ways that the market doesn’t anticipate, typically by first reaching a different set of consumers and later

The Little Hearing Aid that Can’t

Christine Diles

Hearing aids have come a long way. We now have sleek and tiny digital signal processors with automatic directionality, noise suppression, feedback control, frequency shaping and a plethora of features designed to enhance the user experience. In ‘one on one’ conversation, hearing aids do a fine job. The noisy restaurant, family gathering or fellowship hall after church…..this is where the