Hearing News Watch

RESTON, VA—The American Academy of Audiology (AAA) will be moving into new and larger offices this fall. After a decade in its present location at 11730 Plaza America Drive in Reston, VA, the organization will open its new headquarters about two miles away at 11480 Commerce Park Drive, Suite 220, also in Reston. This will be the sixth home for

MINNETONKA, MN– UnitedHealth Group Inc. announced last week that its direct-to-consumer offering of less expensive hearing aids has been extended to 26 million people covered by employer-sponsored and individual health insurance plans through UnitedHealthcare. The original program, unveiled 11 months ago, made the discounted hearing aids available only to people in Medicare-based plans. The hearing aids, which are priced as

KAMPALA, UGANDA–The work of the Starkey Hearing Foundation received nationwide attention Monday evening, August 27, when a story about a mission to Uganda was featured on the NBC News. What made NBC pick the topic? Well, it probably didn’t hurt that the special correspondent who reported the story was Chelsea Clinton. And, as it happens, her father, Bill, has been

By David H. Kirkwood HILLSBORO, OR—The first new university audiology program in the United States in more than a decade will open its doors next week at Pacific University. The Pacific School of Audiology, located on its Hillsboro campus, will be the only one in Oregon and one of only three programs on the West Coast that offer the doctor

By David H. Kirkwood ELKINS PARK PA—While Pacific University is about to launch an entirely new AuD program in Oregon (see the preceding post on Hearing News Watch), the Osborne College of Audiology at Salus University has resumed its distance-education activities and started an “international AuD-Bridge degree program” that will enable master’s degree audiologists and audiology physicians to obtain a

WASHINGTON, DC–The Better Hearing Institute (BHI) has published a free online eGuide to help address the escalating problem of hearing loss. The new 12-page e-guide, which debuted on August 23, explains to consumers how noise contributes to hearing loss and tinnitus and how to prevent noise-induced hearing loss. Individuals and employers are invited to download copies of Your Guide to Prevention

MADISON, WI—Rayovac, the world’s largest manufacturer of hearing aid batteries, will invest millions of additional dollars in research and development and to expand its manufacturing plants, its parent company, Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc., announced on August 23. According to Spectrum Brands, the additional investment will support product enhancements and new cell manufacturing and packaging lines, and will ensure that Rayovac’s

ROCKVILLE, MD–Neil J. DiSarno, PhD, CCC-A, began work this week as chief staff officer for audiology at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), the organization announced on August 20. DiSarno, who for the past 14 years chaired the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Missouri State University, succeeds Vic Gladstone, PhD, who retired in April after more than 15 years in

RESTON, VA/ROCKVILLE, MD/LEXINGTON, KY–In a rare display of cooperation, America’s three largest organizations of audiologists sent a joint statement to their respective members last week, urging them to be mindful of and responsive to the ongoing “paradigm shift to consumer-driven health care.” The communiqué, e-mailed August 16 to audiologists belonging to the American Academy of Audiology, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association,

WASHINGTON, DC—The decision by the influential U.S. Preventive Services Task Force not to recommend that primary-care physicians routinely screen asymptomatic adults over age 50 for hearing loss (see last week’s post on Hearing News Watch) has provoked disapproval and incredulity from an AARP blogger. In her latest Personal Health and Well-being column, on AARP Blog, entitled “I Can’t Believe What I’m Hearing: