Unidentified and Underserved: CI Candidates in the Hearing Aid Dispensing Practice

[Guest guest]

Audiology Online - August 17, 2009

------------

Unidentified and Underserved: Cochlear Implant Candidates in the

Hearing Aid Dispensing Practice

A. Huart, Au.D., Cochlear Americas

Introduction

The vast majority of patients with hearing loss visiting a typical

audiology private practice or hearing aid dispensing office can be helped

with hearing aids. Conventional wisdom would suggest that very few, if any,

cochlear implant candidates are seen in private practices today since severe

and profound hearing losses comprise a small percentage of overall hearing

loss. And if so, there is a variety of hearing aid technology – such as

frequency compression and/or frequency transposition, directional

microphones and FM compatibility - that might help these people. So, why

should a dispensing professional care about cochlear implant candidacy or

referral?

In the case of severe-to-profound hearing loss, professionals need to

provide information on cochlear implants for those who might benefit.

Cochlear implant candidacy has changed over the years, just as cochlear

implant technology has developed and improved. For the appropriate

candidates, cochlear implants may offer the chance at vast improvement in

speech recognition over what even the best hearing aids and assistive

technology offers them. Professionals have a responsibility to inform

patients of all their options, and that means understanding who is a current

candidate for a cochlear implant and understanding the potential benefits.

In addition to informing patients of their treatment options because it is

in the best interest of the patients, professionals also risk losing

patients if they are not informed about cochlear implants. Consumers are

becoming savvier in this information age in regard to researching health

information. They are looking to their health professionals whether it is

their physician, audiologist, or hearing care professional to provide

current information and options regarding their treatment choices.

This article will describe the current cochlear implant candidacy

criteria, and provide information for dispensing professionals on the

potential benefits of cochlear implants. In addition to providing basic

information on cochlear implant performance and issues surrounding the

cochlear implant process, some current data indicating a lack of referrals

for cochlear implant evaluations will be presented. In providing up to date

information and dispelling common myths about this technology, this article

makes a case for increased referrals for cochlear implant evaluations from

dispensing professionals for their patients who may benefit.

..........

For the complete article: http://tinyurl.com/oktwqw