Audiologist - ENT Directory for Consumers & Physicians

Hearing Specialist Directory

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 20:20:23 +0000

The Hearing Specialist Directory is in “best-test development phase III,” nonetheless, the providers listed are real, and they are the best. [DIRECTORY CURRENTLY OFFLINE.]

Email: hearing healthy@gmail.com for an outstanding, independent hearing specialist near you.

TEXAS

LOUISIANA

OKLAHOMA

ARIZONA

OREGON

WASHINGTON

CALIFORNIA

IDAHO

MONTANA

COLORADO

NEW MEXICO

KANSAS

MINNESOTA

FLORIDA

MISSISSIPPI

WYOMING

ARKANSAS

SOUTH DAKOTA

Contact Us

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 20:19:34 +0000

Thanks for your interest in our Audiologist – ENT National Directory. We appreciate your feedback and suggestions. If you have any questions about Audiologist – ENT National Directory or issues accessing our site at http://audiologist-ent.com, you can email us at hearinghealthy@gmail.com

We value your suggestions and feedback and will respond promptly to your inquiry.

Thanks for visiting Audiologist – ENT National Directory.

Comments or questions are welcome.

About This Site

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 20:18:32 +0000

Greetings! The Hearing Specialist Directory is in a “test phase,” but the providers listed are real, and they are the best. We are ramping up and rolling out the Directory. We can likely connect you with an outstanding hearing specialistic if you need one immediately. Email: hearinghealthy@gmail.com

This website contains a directory of the nation’s best hearing specialists and information regarding hearing loss. This website is intended for people seeking help as well as their loved ones.

We have worked in the hearing industry our entire professional careers. We have amassed enough grey hairs and experience to be confident in the information conveyed here. If we were giving a presentation to primary care physicians about hearing loss, the material in this website is what we would report. We have tried to cut out the “useless” and include only the “useful.”

Throughout the website, hopefully, you will notice an informal and friendly tone. Learning about hearing loss is not particularly fun, but it does not have to be painful. When our directory is large enough to start advertising in the Journal of the American Medical Association, we can “class things up” and make the content more formal and bland.

This website is intended to educate those who are unclear or uncomfortable about their hearing loss or the hearing loss of someone they care about. If you do not have a trusted hearing health resource, we are happy to provide value. If your neighbor is an ENT or your brother-in-law is an audiologist, then by all means, you should seek out their advice.

One of our goals is to connect with the skeptical consumer who is not dazzled by fancy high-tech lingo nor motivated by fear. Typically, such people prefer expertise, experience, value and straight-forwardness, and they simply want a hearing solution that is effective and affordable.

The best way to connect with an effective and affordable hearing solution is to connect with the best, local hearing specialist.

Thank you and best wishes.

Email: hearinghealthy@gmail.com

Privacy Policy

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 20:12:59 +0000

We have created this privacy statement for Audiologist – ENT National Directory in order to demonstrate our firm and continuing commitment to the privacy of personal information provided by those visiting and interacting with Audiologist – ENT National Directory. We hold the privacy of your personal information in the highest regard. The following discloses our information gathering and dissemination practices for this website.

We recognize the importance of protecting your privacy and our policy is designed to assist you in understanding how we collect, use and safeguard the personal information you provide to us and to assist you in making informed decisions when using our site. This policy will be continuously assessed against new technologies, business practices and our customers’ needs.

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Motivation – Audiologist – ENT

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 19:54:47 +0000

When Sissy Johnson talks about the “old days” in Austin and the fellowship and respect among the audiology community, it is easy to be motivated (and inspired) to create a website that showcases the nation’s best hearing specialists.

Some of our motivational sources are unique and personal, but some we share in common. I would like to get permission from the families of those people we have loved and lost and post their pictures here.

Also, motivational thoughts and ideas are posted here:

Do what you want to do. There is no demerit system here. Some hearing industry developments, trends and facts give reason for concern. Concern is not fear. Acknowledging and discussing particular developments, trends and facts is prudent.

Success requires concentration and confidence.

None but the brave deserve the fair.

There is kindness, respect and fellowship. It is difficult to both smile and come across as unfriendly.

Humor and sarcasm can be very healthy. If your advisory team consists of seven people, do not pick seven audiologists

There is a Good Side and there is a Dark Side. [See: Star Wars] There is Good and there is Evil. Ultimately, Good is more powerful and will triumph over Evil. Nevertheless, Evil is pretty darn powerful. Still, Good is better.

Outreach Tools – Audiologist – ENT

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 19:53:03 +0000

Simple and easy outreach resources.

I’ve been involved with physician marketing long enough to be certain of the number one objection from audiologists, “I do not have enough time.”

Solution:

Keep it very simple. Make sure it is very easy. Utilize resources that keep you in physicians’ minds when you are not present.

1. Physician Outreach Program Tools.

2. Touch Screen Hearing Kiosks.

Contact Sam at 512.944.2944 or hearinghealthy@gmail.com

Physician Outreach Phase 1 – Audiologist – ENT

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 19:50:56 +0000

REALIZATION AND COMMITMENT

Physician outreach is nothing new. Just about every hearing specialist has tried it or looked into doing it. We use the term “physician outreach” rather than “physician marketing” for reasons we can get into later. Probably, the most accurate term is “physician communication and collaboration.”

GOAL OF THIS SECTION: Illustrate the significance of physician outreach in order to induce the realization, “Dang, I need to be communicating with physicians, regularly.”

There is a parallel between patients who decide they need to invest in hearing aids and hearing specialists who decide they need to communicate with physicians. Realization. Investment. Commitment.

We know that no one can be “arm-twisted” into regularly communicating with physicians. Something will have to “click” in your mind.

Bonus: The same skills and resources required to effectively communicate with physicians are applicable to a variety of other referral-generating and lead-generating sources.

HERE IS WHAT I KNOW TO BE TRUE [These are independent "truths" that I know to be true after calling on a variety of general physicians. Each concept may be worth re-reading. I am not trying to offend anyone. I am not offended if you disagree.]

Everybody prefers “simple” over “complicated.” Most people do not like reading long paragraphs. Many people do not like reading at all. Once someone “gets it,” they do not need more info. Therefore, keep things simple and kindly invite people to discuss things further if they want to.

In order to get someone to buy into something, you cannot just tell them. You also have to show them. You should show them about 90% of the “picture” and allow them to have a “realization” of their own. Perhaps, this is why “demo-ing” hearing aids is effective. If someone needs more information about a particular topic, give it to them.

75% of people identify their primary care/general physician as the one they look to and trust for their hearing healthcare.

Hearing aid market penetration is about 25%.

Hearing aid market penetration has hovered around 25% for over 50 years.

If you look at “the history of hearing aids” you will see that in 1945 only 25% of people who needed hearing aids actually purchased them. Last year, 25% of people who needed hearing aids actually purchased them. It seems like 25% is the “magic threshold number”. In other words, 1 in 4 people (or personalities) will proactively seek out hearing devices on their own.

How to increase hearing aid market penetration is not a mystery.

Direct-to-consumer hearing aids are a reality. It is very unlikely that direct-to-consumer hearing aids are going away. MAYBE, direct-to-consumer “hearing aids” will be outlawed, but “personal sound amplification devices” will not be. Many PSAD’s look remarkably similar to “old-school hearing aids.”

Major hearing aid manufacturers are adding PSAD’s to their product offerings. [Repeat: It is very unlikely that direct-to-consumer hearing aids are going away.]

For evermore, an increasing portion of the “magic 25%” will purchase their hearing solutions online and over-the-counter.

Wal-Mart sells hearings over-the-counter and online direct to consumers. Wal-Mart has powerful lobbying and legal resources.

United Healthcare offers hearing aids direct to consumers. United Healthcare has powerful lobbying and legal resources.

The Hearing Loss Association of America believes that consumers need more options to treat hearing loss and deems UHC’s entry into the market a “responsible alternative.”

Lobbying and corresponding with legislators and regulatory agencies is a fantastic way to illustrate an injustice. [Nonetheless, please re-read the prior three points.]

Some hearing specialists rationalize that physician outreach is not necessary. They speculate that an “influx of baby boomer traffic” will neutralize patients lost to “direct-to-consumer channels.” [If that is the case, there is no need to continue reading. No harm, no foul. Repeat: Anyone who has to be arm-twisted to communicate with physicians will not make a very good impression.]

General physicians feel responsible for their patients’ health and wellness. If the stakeholders for a particular patient’s health and wellness were plotted out on a dartboard, general physicians would be the bull’s-eye.

Many GP’s have become somewhat bitter toward specialists.

Many GPs feel specialists are “taking bites” out of their practice by ”taking” their patients and “taking” aspects of their field of expertise and continually asking for referrals yet not offering value in return. Sometimes the specialists’ associations implement license and training requirements that block the GP from an aspect of healthcare they had previously been practicing for years. Still, the GP is ultimately responsible for their patients’ health and wellness.

If GPs ranked their preferences, specialists who have their patients’ waive a federally required, physician-performed medical evaluation yet still communicate and collaborate with them would rank higher than specialists who have their patients’ waive a federally required, physician-performed medical evaluation and do not communicate with them.

GPs “eyebrow-raising” attitudes toward specialists are increasing. The prevalence of hearing loss in increasing. The prevalence of ototoxic medications is increasing. The number of diseases linked with hearing loss is increasing. If hearing specialists continue to have their patients waive a mandatory physician evaluation before fitting them with hearing aids, it seems prudent for hearing specialists to regularly communicate with local GPs.

A GPs practice does not revolve around hearing loss. It does not revolve around any one topic, hence the word “general” or “primary” in their title. An audiologist or an otolaryngologist or a cardiologist or a neurologist is a “specialist” to a GP.

A small percentage of GP’s screen (or test) for hearing loss. More importantly, a very small percentage of GPs are particularly thrilled/excited/concerned/interested about hearing loss and hearing solutions.

Many a general physician has said, “I did not go to medical school and become a physician to test hearing and get involved with hearing aids.”

Many a general physician has said, “reimbursement rates are declining.” They are seeking new ways to add value to their practice. Subsequently, they are willing to communicate with providers who “bring value to their practice.”

There are an incredible number of pharmaceutical and medical equipment reps that call on GPs. [Don’t let this overwhelm you. It’s actually a good thing.] Subsequently, virtually all GP practices are set up to efficiently “intake” specialists and reps. Those that continuously bring “value” to the practice differentiate themselves from all the turkeys that bombard their staff with “white noise.”

“Outlawing” direct-to-consumer hearing aids will be a significant, long-term victory for hearing specialists. There is sure to be simultaneous, short-term scrutiny into the provider-patient model.

Whether or not one embraces direct-to-consumer hearing aids, it is wise and strategic to differentiate your practice as medically focused by communicating, collaborating and partnering with your community’s medical experts.

In the event there is a public fallout and backlash regarding direct-to-consumer hearing aids, the hearing specialists that have secured the confidence of GPs and other physicians will be above reproach.

Industry Info – Audiologist – ENT

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 19:47:55 +0000

Motherships:

WILLIAM DEMANT HOLDING
Oticon
Bernafon
Sonic Innovations
American Hearing Aid Associates
Avada Audiology and Hearing Care Centers
MedRx
www.healthyhearing.com

SONOVA
Phonak
Unitron
Newport Audiology Centers
Hearing Planet

GN RESOUND
GN ReSound
Beltone

SIEMENS
Siemens
HearUSA

WIDEX

STARKEY LABORATORIES
Starkey
Audibel

AMPLIFON
Amplifon USA
Miracle-Ear
Sonus
Elite

WAL-MART

COSTCO

Value-Added Networks
Sonus – Elite
AHAA
Audigy
AuDNet
Oracle
EarQ
Audiology Management Group
Fuel Medical

Other
Vivatone

Oaktree
Westone

Direct-to-consumer hearing aids are a reality. That market will grow. Indicators: Hearing aid manufacturers are adding PSAD’s to their product offerings. Wal-mart. UHC. So be it.

Hearing aid manufacturers do much more than manufacture. They also market, train, distribute and dispense hearing aids. That has been the case for years. Vertical integration. So be it. No one is going to change that. They do have great meetings and conferences at cool places.
http://journals.lww.com/thehearingjournal/Fulltext/2012/02000/Cover_story__Consolidation_Boom_Changes_Face_of.1.aspx

Tinnitus is a particularly “hot topic” right now. Tinnitus is the number one military service-related disability. There is a link between Tinnitus and stress. The general population’s stress level is increasing.
http://www.hearingreview.com/issues/articles/2011-11_01.asp

The motherships of the hearing industry feel that independently marketing their own products/brand is more worthwhile than universally marketing hearing healthcare awareness and solutions. Hearing aid manufacturers and distributors are large corporations with intelligent executives and managers. Like any large corporation, they each have marketing departments with the task of promoting their products. They spend millions of dollars trying to convince hearing professionals as well as consumers that their products are the best, and that their products are what makes all the difference. What kills me is that they don’t spend that money on simply informing the public on how common hearing loss is and on how significantly hearing loss, as well as hearing aids, impact people and their families. It is easy to understand why they cannot single out particular practices as the best when they simultaneously own/control nearby hearing centers. No problem. But, that does not mean it should not be done.

SOMEDAY THERE WILL BE: A nationwide, unified, and celebrity-driven marketing effort on behalf of ALL hearing industry companies to promote hearing loss awareness and solutions. The TV commercial version will probably showcase someone like Sandra Bullock or Tim Tebow. Why is it going to be awhile before this happens? The motherships cannot bear the thought of investing in a marketing campaign that will not exclusively benefit their own brands and their customer base.

In addition to the motherships, many hearing specialists are convinced a unified, national campaign is not prudent. Why? If they walk into the “wrong” practice, new consumers could have a “terrible experience,” and they would potentially walk away disgruntled and skeptical about the value of hearing aids and hearing professionals. Those people would be inclined to tell their friends and family how terrible their hearing healthcare experience was. Skepticism of hearing aids and hearing professionals already exists and some specialists fear that nationally marketing hearing awareness would send too many people into hearing practices where they would walk away disgruntled.

These concerns will be overcome. Perhaps, just about the time the motherships are satisfied with their foothold on the hearing aid market as well as the direct-to-consumer market, the unified, national campaign will be unveiled.

IN THE MEAN TIME: The best hearing specialists in the nation can be identified and showcased.

TBA

What the hearing healthcare industry needs is someone or some organization that looks out for the hearing aid consumer. Ideally, the organization would not be owned by a hearing aid manufacturer or by a group of hearing professionals. Ideally, the organization would use simple, plain talk and NOT get too carried away with technical specifications and information that is useless to consumers.

Also, not all hearing professionals want/need a giant influx of new patients. Many outstanding hearing professionals have their hands pretty well full with new patients as well as existing patients who visit for follow up and upgrade appointments. Most outstanding hearing professionals would certainly love to obtain new patients, however, they do not seem desperate for huge waves of new business. Subsequently, a national marketing campaign does not peek all hearing professional’s interest as much as one might think.

Stakeholders & Advisory Board

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 19:40:56 +0000

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Advertisers for Audiologist – ENT

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 19:39:43 +0000

If you are interested in advertising on this website, please contact Sam at 512 944 2944.

Identifying and promoting the nation’s best hearing specialist is a fantastic idea. The consumer wins. The hearing practice wins. The industry benefits. Website construction, maintenance, hosting and promotion costs money. Contact us to begin advertising on this website.

Tel: 512.944.2944
Email: hearinghealthy@gmail.com

A portion of every advertising revenue dollar will be given to Ears on Wheels. Ears on Wheels is a charitable effort that brings hearing services to the homebound.
http://earsonwheels.org