by Adam Dawson
Time is money.
It may be a cliché saying, but there is a lot of truth to it. The more time you spend with one patient, the less time you have to see others. And less patients means less money.
Of course, this field isn’t all about money. Exceptional patient care should always be first priority. However, you do need to make sure your practice is making enough revenue to afford your office space, keep the lights on, pay staff, order supplies, and so on and so forth. However, any responsible practice owner should be looking for ways to be more efficient.
One way to save time without sacrificing patient satisfaction is by utilizing hearing aid verification equipment. By doing so, you will reduce the number of follow-up visits from each patient, increasing cost savings as a result.
Spend Less Time Tweaking and More Time Treating
The entire process of properly fitting hearing aids must be considered when evaluating time and costs. If you can reduce the need for minor adjustment appointments that fill your schedule, you will create more opportunity to see other patients in need of your help. That’s where hearing aid verification boasts its true value to you and your patients.
According to Sergei Kochkin, PhD, a 2011 MarkeTrak VIII study revealed that hearing aid verification and validation can reduce follow-up visits (1.2 fewer visits) and improve patient satisfaction. By introducing verification equipment during a first visit, along with patient questionnaires that validate the results, time-saving benefits are realized in the future. The use of hearing aid verification equipment as part of the fitting process will produce a better first fit, greatly reducing the need for a return visit.
Fig 1: Graph displays the superior fit-to-target accuracy (RMSE ~2 dB; 65 dB SPL input) of Audioscan’s VerifitLINK. Image credit – Using autoREMfit for Hearing Aid Fitting and Verification: Evidence of Accuracy and Reliability – Hearing Review, August 3, 2020.
More Beneficial for the Patient
At the end of the day, patient satisfaction is of the utmost importance. The more satisfied a patient is with your service, the more likely they are to come back or refer you to friends and family.
The same MarkeTrak VIII study also noted that 76 percent of patients with above-average success were correctly fit in one or two visits. However, the study also stated that when a patient has to return to their hearing healthcare provider’s office more than three times for a fitting issue, their satisfaction with that provider’s products and services diminishes. In extreme cases, it can even lead to a patient rejecting their hearing aids or returning them for credit.
Getting Started with Verification
By leveraging modern verification technology, your practice can provide patients with the best possible outcomes. If you’re interested in adding verification technology to your practice, you should create a hearing-aid fitting workflow plan that addresses each patient’s unique issues. This plan should include verification during the initial fitting and allow for one return fitting adjustment.
With a solid plan in place, and with a staff that is knowledgeable and caring, your practice will save time and strengthen your patients’ perception of the quality and professionalism they receive from you. Any time you spend during avoidable, repeat fittings is better spent concentrating on improving quality of care for patients and implementing your newly established workflow. In the end, adopting hearing aid verification technology will help you achieve this, making your practice more efficient and successful overall.
Learn More About Verification Equipment Offered by e3 Diagnostics!
Looking to start leveraging hearing aid verification? e3 carries the most renowned systems in the world – from the gold standard Audioscan Verifit 2 to the new Interacoustics Affinity Compact.
We are currently running promotions on these devices, so make sure to click the links below to learn more about how you can save on top-tier hearing aid verification systems!
Audioscan Verifit 2 and GSI Pello offer
Audioscan Verifit 2 and Oticon hearing aids offer
Audioscan Verifit 2 Upgrade Promotion
About the author
Adam Dawson is the Digital Marketing Coordinator at e3 Diagnostics. His interest in hearing healthcare is driven by his passion for music because he feels everyone should be able to clearly listen to Pet Sounds at least once in their life. In his free time, he enjoys playing video games, digging through record stores for classic vinyl, shooting hoops, and writing stories.
Thanks for mentioning that hearing aids typically take several visits to fit properly. My daughter was just diagnosed with acute hearing loss, and she needs hearing aids. I’ll have to take her to a professional to get her properly fitted.