Hearing Economics

Featured image for “Hearing Spaghetti or Audiology Armageddon?”
Mar. 20, 2012

Hearing Spaghetti or Audiology Armageddon?

Holly Hosford-Dunn
Hearing Economics is pleased to welcome Kris Diles, AuD{{1}}[[1]]Christine Diles, Au.D. and Bill Diles, M.A. have owned Kenwood Hearing Center Sonoma County, CA for over 30 years.   They have expanded the practice  to 3 full time locations with a staff of both audiologists as well as hearing aid dispensers.  Dr. Diles is a consultant to the Product Development Team
Featured image for “Econ 101:  Utility — It’s Personal, It’s Complicated, and It Depends”
Mar. 13, 2012

Econ 101: Utility — It’s Personal, It’s Complicated, and It Depends

Holly Hosford-Dunn
Utility is a 19th century microeconomic concept used to measure consumer satisfaction.  Satisfaction is personal and subjective; it cannot be measured directly.  Utility measures it indirectly by asking consumers to assign numbers to different levels of satisfaction they believe they would experience if they consumed a product or service.  The reason economists bother with a concept like Utility is because
Featured image for “Back to the Future, Part 4:  Pressure On the Middle”
Mar. 06, 2012

Back to the Future, Part 4: Pressure On the Middle

Holly Hosford-Dunn
These posts follow up on predictions made by Lars Kolind in the late 1990s, published in the final chapter{{1}}[[1]]Jerger JJ, Skafte MD, Kolind L. The future of audiology practice management.  Chapter 21. In Hosford-Dunn H, Roeser R, & Valente, M. (2000). Audiology: Practice Management (1st Ed). NY:  Thieme. pp 481-490.[[1]] of Audiology: Practice Management (1st Ed, 2000).  Post #1 considered Audiologists as retailers; Post #2 & Post #3 looked
Featured image for “Back to the Future:  What Would Jack Say?”
Feb. 28, 2012

Back to the Future: What Would Jack Say?

Holly Hosford-Dunn
This series checks in on predictions made by Lars Kolind in the late 1990s, published in the final chapter{{1}}[[1]]Jerger JJ, Skafte MD, Kolind L. The future of audiology practice management.  Chapter 21. In Hosford-Dunn H, Roeser R, & Valente, M. (2000). Audiology: Practice Management (1st Ed). NY:  Thieme. pp 481-490.[[1]] of Audiology: Practice Management (1st Ed, 2000).  Post #1 evaluated and concurred with Dr.
Featured image for “Back to the Future Part IIIa: Technology is a Double-Edged Sword”
Feb. 21, 2012

Back to the Future Part IIIa: Technology is a Double-Edged Sword

Holly Hosford-Dunn
This series checks in on predictions made by Lars Kolind in the late 1990s, published in the final chapter{{1}}[[1]]Jerger JJ, Skafte MD, Kolind L. The future of audiology practice management.  Chapter 21. In Hosford-Dunn H, Roeser R, & Valente, M. (2000). Audiology: Practice Management (1st Ed). NY:  Thieme. pp 481-490.[[1]] of Audiology: Practice Management (1st Ed, 2000).  Post #1 evaluated and concurred with Dr.
Featured image for “Double Your Prices: Are We Really a Boutique Profession?”
Feb. 14, 2012

Double Your Prices: Are We Really a Boutique Profession?

Holly Hosford-Dunn
Hearing Economics is pleased to welcome a Guest Blogger this week.  Brian Taylor‘s post is a natural follow-on to posts you’ve read here in the last two weeks discussing how and why traditional practitioners will use value adds to maintain and grow their practices in the midst of the online retail onslaught. Considering all the chatter about PSAPs, reduced barriers
Featured image for “Back to the Future, Part II (con’t): Aliens Have Landed and Cross Pollination Has Commenced”
Feb. 07, 2012

Back to the Future, Part II (con’t): Aliens Have Landed and Cross Pollination Has Commenced

Holly Hosford-Dunn
Lars Kolind’s Prediction II:  There will be heavy pressure by trading by means of the Internet, driving competition to become fully global and putting those retailers particularly under pressure who do not add genuine value. Why should a consumer enter a shop if genuine additional value is not added?… [the answer is knowledge]…The retailer must develop and apply a concept
Featured image for “Back to the Future Part II: New Competitors Bring New Pressures”
Jan. 31, 2012

Back to the Future Part II: New Competitors Bring New Pressures

Holly Hosford-Dunn
Back to the Future posts consider hearing healthcare predictions of Lars Kolind (Oticon) in the late 1990s, published in the final chapter{{1}}[[1]]Jerger JJ, Skafte MD, Kolind L. The future of audiology practice management.  Chapter 21. In Hosford-Dunn H, Roeser R, & Valente, M. (2000). Audiology: Practice Management (1st Ed). NY:  Thieme. pp 481-490.[[1]] of Audiology: Practice Management (1st Ed, 2000).   Post #1
Featured image for “Aaargh!! Time for Ruthless Publishers to Walk the Plank”
Jan. 24, 2012

Aaargh!! Time for Ruthless Publishers to Walk the Plank

Holly Hosford-Dunn
Who are the most ruthless capitalists in the Western world?”  Bankers? Oil companies?  Health insurers?  None of the above; they are actually academic publishers… their monopolistic practices make Walmart look like a corner shop and Rupert Murdoch a socialist.  {{1}}[[1]] George Monbiot writing in The Guardian, quoted in The Robber Barons of Academia,  The Week, 3 Sept 2011.[[1]] Thus speaks British social activist
Featured image for “Back to the Future, Part I:  Are We Retailers?”
Jan. 17, 2012

Back to the Future, Part I: Are We Retailers?

Holly Hosford-Dunn
Audiology: Practice Management was published in 2000 as part of an Audiology book “trilogy” edited by Ross Roeser, Mike Valente and myself.  In that first edition, we egregiously took on the ambitious task of predicting the future of practice management. At least we were modest enough to prevail upon other, better positioned thinkers to make the predictions.{{1}}[[1]]Jerger JJ, Skafte MD, Kolind