Reset Your Coordinates Now

At our practice, there seems to be a change going on.

We are experiencing an uptick in requests for a second opinion and I believe this is indicative of the future direction for professional independent audiological care. In my opinion, audiologists and hearing care specialists will have to consider embracing this new direction in order to remain relevant in the future.

When we work with patients and clients, we spend time trying to understand the individual, then meticulously identify and address their needs. The time has come for audiologists to identify their own needs and where they fit within the changing landscape of audiological provision. For most of my professional career, there have been challenges which have been heralded as ushering in the end of our profession as we know it. All of those challenges came and went as the profession developed, improved and moved on.

One of those defining moments has arrived again with new distribution models and product categories currently being explored. Expert service will always be necessary but how it is sought and delivered may well change.

We can't allow technological advancements to impede the practice of evidence-based, patient centred audiology. We can't abandon our primary responsibility ....that of improving communication for anyone requiring hearing enrichment

Each request for a second opinion seems to unearth a tale of woe. Although their stories differ, there are common threads, as all the clients are dissatisfied with the treatment they have received from, so-called, hearing care providers. They have all been tested and fitted with hearing devices in the last 12 months. They don't necessarily want to return their hearing aids, in most cases they've been told they can't, they just want an independent expert to give them the time they need to explain their issues and to provide them reliable quality audiological guidance.

Some report the audiologist they had consulted hadn't wanted to deal with them anymore (one client told us they were literally shown the door), others have felt the audiologist didn't understand the technology they had provided or had just run out of ideas. We've heard instances where every time the client had arranged an appointment, they were seen by someone new so there was little continuity of care in the treatment they've been provided.

Some independent providers refuse to take on other providers' patients whereas others charge a premium to 'onboard' these clients. We have welcomed these clients into our practice and are happy to provide the support they have been searching for. We have only been able to do this because we moved to an unbundled business model some ten years ago as we began to appreciate service and expertise is a commodity in its own right.

It seems like today this expertise is more in demand than it ever has been.