Does ACO Spell Audiology?
Tom J. Northey is this week’s guest contributor. In July, Hearing Economics did a multi-part series going back in time to 2000, when Mr. Northey wrote a seminal article forecasting our profession’s future choices and coining that popular phrase “Audiology Economics.” Lucky for Hearing Economics, the series caught Mr. Northey’s attention. Though he left the field of…
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In the Beginning was the Word: Unraveling HearUSA, part 2
… the hearing industry has been … loosely organized … lacking defined standards of quality in both the provision of testing services and in product performance. Consumers…have not developed a confidence about audiology in general as being a serious aspect of health care and concern.{{1}}[[1]]HEARx Marketing Plan, internal document, 1986. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes…
Read MoreRegulation of Hearing Aids in the US, part 3
The US Hearing Aid Industry Comes Under Scrutiny and Regulation by the FTC1 The industry’s expanding sales and capital were the result of technological innovation as well as intense marketing campaigns by the manufacturers. Celebrity marketing and fake testimonials were a big part of these campaigns. Luminaries ranging from Bob Hope to Bernard Baruch were…
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