You Say Hello, We Say Goodbye| Richard Einhorn, Bob Martin|hearinghealthmatters.org/hearinghealth

Richard Einhorn

Hello!

“Curiosity is insubordination in its purest form.” Vladimir Nabokov

The Hearing Health section is embarking on an exciting path in coming weeks, with the introduction of a new series entitled Hearing Health Disruptions, edited and curated by famed composer and hearing consumer advocate Richard Einhorn. Mr. Einhorn is the only editor at HHTM who rates his own page on Wikipedia. Readers will find his interesting bio at the end of this post.

Hearing Health Disruptions aims to be curious about everything having to do with the rapid changes taking place in hearing healthcare. It will consider views of all stakeholders who wish to contribute discussions of new data; emerging technologies; changing methodologies; and changing user preferences and expectations. Taken together, the views will explore Disruptions with curiosity, polite insubordination, and conviction that our field is at or approaching a series of tipping points.

Please look for Hearing Health Disruptions to commence in mid August with a group of posts culled from recent topics presented to the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) Committee on Accessible and Affordable Hearing Health Care for Adults. Mr. Einhorn was in on the ground floor in January 2014 when IOM and the National Research Council held a workshop entitled Hearing Loss and Healthy Aging, the result of which was creation of the Committee. As previously reported at HHTM, the study is a two-year independent effort by the Committee to collect background and insight into:

social and health effects of hearing loss
efficacy of current federal regulations for distribution of hearing services and products
affordability of devices and services in the present system
ways in which current approaches can be modified to increase access and affordability

In other words, IOM has created a curious Committee which is open to hearing about disruptions and insubordinate thoughts. Its report next May (2016) will include short-and long-term recommendations for solutions. Hearing Health Disruptions plans to track the Committee’s progress in coming months, along with other curious things that come up along the way. In addition, HHTM will forward all comments to the Committee, which welcomes written input at any time and includes it in the committee’s public access file.

HHTM is pleased to welcome Mr. Einhorn and thankful for his willingness to be our guide from tipping point to tipping point!

Goodbye, and then Hello Again!

Judy Huch, AuD

At least for now, HHTM says adieu to Judy Huch, AuD as editor of this section. Judy was in on our ground floor when HHTM started in April 2011. She began HHTM life as a weekly editor, then transitioned to a shared editorship while she developed our Social Media in Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, and others. Her efforts helped grow our readership to over a million viewers in 222 countries. Dr. Huch is expanding her private practices and is likely to contribute guest posts on private practice issues in the future, as her time allows.

As her HHTM bio (below) stressed, Judy has always displayed an active curiosity about how things work. That won’t change. Judy will go behind the scenes for the next month and we prepare a new clinical section to debut in the fall. We look forward to continued collaboration with her as she keeps us up to date on changes in private practice. All of us at HHTM extend our sincerest gratitude to Judy for her collegial approach to HHTM endeavors over the last 4.5 years and her willingness to curate new content for a new section in years to come.

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Richard Einhorn is a composer, music producer, and hearing loss consultant. A summa cum laude graduate of Columbia University, Richard’s oratorio with silent film, Voices of Light, has been called a “great masterpiece of modern music” and been performed by the National Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, and at such venues as Disney Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, the National Cathedral of Washington, and the Sydney Opera House. Richard’s production of Yo Yo Ma’s Bach Cello Suites was awarded a Grammy for Best Instrumental Performance. Richard’s advocacy for better hearing technology has been featured numerous times in the New York Times, Washington Post, and on NPR.

After losing much of his hearing to a virus in June of 2010, Richard has become a nationally known advocate for better hearing assistance. He has consulted on the design of hearing apps for smartphones, product development for hearing products, written articles on hearing loops and improved hearing technology for audiology and medical magazines, and given numerous public presentations in the US and England on hearing loss. Elected to the board of the Hearing Loss Association of America, Richard delivered the Keynote Address at HLAA’s annual convention in June, 2014. In the spring of 2015, he presented his views on hearing loss technology to the Institute of Medicine in Washington DC and also to President’s Committee of Advisors on Science And Technology.

Richard Einhorn lives in New York City with his wife Amy Singer and daughter Miranda.

Judy Huch runs two private practices on opposite ends of Tucson, Arizona. She has always had a fascination with how things (from toasters to wireless) and people work, and audiology has given her a place to study both. She has been dispensing hearing aids for almost 25 years. She obtained her first license before finishing graduate school and has owned, leased, contracted, and administrated in the hearing field, and became a landlord, in the past 15 years. She has published in text books and trade journals, with a focus on patient satisfaction and hearing aid fittings. By her account, working with HHTM has allowed her gain editorial and blogging skills.

Dr. Huch lives in a suburb of Tucson with her architect husband, Rick, who has designed and built her hearing offices, and their two sons.

feature image courtesy of quiet paws