A Few Pre-purchase Factors
Minimum Requirements
Fitting hearing aids with the highest standards requires:
1. Proven hearing aid technologies
2. Adequate time allocation
3. A quiet and clean test room
4. An experienced and skilled audiologist
5. State-of-the-art, calibrated clinical tools
6. Clean (wax free) ear canals
Freedom to Choose
As an independent office, I'm not committed to any single hearing aid manufacturer. This keeps me objective and aware of many more current technologies, across multiple manufacturers, at any given time. Since no two hearing aid fittings are alike, clinicians require multiple hearing aid brands to best meet unique individual needs.
No single manufacturer makes the "best" hearing aids. Yet, all hearing aid companies claim to have the "latest, and greatest" technologies. It's up to experienced and dedicated audiologists to put each individual hearing aid through a series of comprehensive electronic tests in order to distinguish real-life performance from misleading sales hype.
Today, Starkey, Signia, and Phonak tend to manufacture the best aids. As the profession and technologies change, I will always strive to recommend the best brand, with the right features, at the best price for each unique person, ear, and hearing loss.
Trial Period
All new hearing aids come with a 60-day trial period. While new aids need to be paid for at the time of fitting, a 100% refund is available anytime within 60 days of purchase. It usually takes a few weeks to get comfortable with new hearing aids and make an experience based decision whether to keep or return them. It generally takes several weeks to re-recognize long forgotten sounds, reinterpret complex speech sounds, and re-learn to ignore or block out background noises subconsciously. The trial period is also important because it essentially guarantees a successful fitting. Any person who probably wouldn't wear the aids much after 60 days should return them for a refund. They could also try them again in the future if it makes sense to do so (e.g., additional hearing loss).
Programming or Tuning
Programming (i.e., tuning or adjusting) the sound quality of today's aids is far more complicated than most imagine. Many people don't realize how complex and dynamic the sounds of human speech are. When hearing aids are fit properly, all the tones of average American English must be carefully measured and adjusted; and loudness must be carefully controlled separately for soft, medium, and loud speech. It is only when we put a microphone next to your eardrum, insert your hearing aid, and introduce carefully and purposefully recorded speech... that we can measure, evaluate, change, and verify how the hearing aids function and sound, in real-time and in real life.
Unfortunately, many clinics adjust and fit hearing aids using only a single computer. Your audiologist's clinical skills and the quality of his or her clinical tools will greatly alter the way your hearing aids are selected, fit, and tuned. Every hearing aid will sound very different depending on who measures and modifies the performance of the aids at the ear drums. While one clinician could perhaps get "the best" possible sound out of a basic hearing aid, another clinician may only be able to get mediocre sound quality from deluxe aids. Unfortunately, the vast majority of dispensing offices in the U.S. don't utilize the equipment necessary to measure "real ear," real world hearing aid performance.
Insurance Coverage
Prior to your appointment, it is recommended to contact your insurance company directly to verify coverage. Affordable Hearing Aids participates with most insurance companies including Blue Cross Blue Shield, Medicare Plus Blue, Aetna, Humana, and United Healthcare.
Automatic vs Manual Control of Hearing Aid Volume
Essentially, all hearing aids today have automatic, internal volume control that amplifies softer sounds more and louder sounds less. Modern aids, in fact, can effectively make over 1000 loudness/amplification changes per second in a complex listening environment. While automatic volume is important, manual volume control nearly always makes the difference between a person who will be "satisfied" vs "very satisfied" with their overall hearing aid experience. With the fine tuning of the manual volume control(s), your hearing aids should never be even a little bit too loud or too soft. Manual volume control is also important because hearing fluctuates, listening demands fluctuate, mood fluctuates, and the value of another's speech (depending on the topic of discussion or perhaps the speaker) also fluctuates. Always request a manual volume control whenever it makes sense. If it is later determined to be problematic and/or unnecessary, manual controls, such as a push button or volume wheel, are simply disabled and ignored.
Accessories
While simplicity and ease-of-use are highly desirable, sometimes hearing aid accessories can be quite helpful. Think, for example, how useful a handheld remote control can be to control hearing aid volume/loudness for a person with significant arthritis or other dexterity limits. Similarly, equipment used to stream your cell phone, television, and wireless devices straight into your hearing aids might be quite meaningful too especially to an active person frequently on the move.
Cleaning & Maintenance
Nearly all hearing aids have replacement parts (e.g., dust, & wax filters) and should be professionally serviced at least once yearly. Preventative maintenance schedules are individualized depending on factors such as excess wax or oil production, airborne particles found in all living environments, memory issues, travel, etc....
Warranty & Fees
New aids come with a manufacturer's warranty which covers unlimited repairs plus (one-time) accidental loss and damage replacement. Pricing for new aids typically includes comprehensive warranty coverage for 3 years. After the initial fitting process is complete, there are typically no additional fees for routine and customary hearing aid related services during the warranty period. In instances when the hearing aids are accidentally lost or destroyed, most manufacturers require a $250 to $300 fee to obtain brand new replacement aids. Nationally, hearing aids last an average of 4.7 years, but together we can usually do much better than average.
Fitting hearing aids with the highest standards requires:
1. Proven hearing aid technologies
2. Adequate time allocation
3. A quiet and clean test room
4. An experienced and skilled audiologist
5. State-of-the-art, calibrated clinical tools
6. Clean (wax free) ear canals
Freedom to Choose
As an independent office, I'm not committed to any single hearing aid manufacturer. This keeps me objective and aware of many more current technologies, across multiple manufacturers, at any given time. Since no two hearing aid fittings are alike, clinicians require multiple hearing aid brands to best meet unique individual needs.
No single manufacturer makes the "best" hearing aids. Yet, all hearing aid companies claim to have the "latest, and greatest" technologies. It's up to experienced and dedicated audiologists to put each individual hearing aid through a series of comprehensive electronic tests in order to distinguish real-life performance from misleading sales hype.
Today, Starkey, Signia, and Phonak tend to manufacture the best aids. As the profession and technologies change, I will always strive to recommend the best brand, with the right features, at the best price for each unique person, ear, and hearing loss.
Trial Period
All new hearing aids come with a 60-day trial period. While new aids need to be paid for at the time of fitting, a 100% refund is available anytime within 60 days of purchase. It usually takes a few weeks to get comfortable with new hearing aids and make an experience based decision whether to keep or return them. It generally takes several weeks to re-recognize long forgotten sounds, reinterpret complex speech sounds, and re-learn to ignore or block out background noises subconsciously. The trial period is also important because it essentially guarantees a successful fitting. Any person who probably wouldn't wear the aids much after 60 days should return them for a refund. They could also try them again in the future if it makes sense to do so (e.g., additional hearing loss).
Programming or Tuning
Programming (i.e., tuning or adjusting) the sound quality of today's aids is far more complicated than most imagine. Many people don't realize how complex and dynamic the sounds of human speech are. When hearing aids are fit properly, all the tones of average American English must be carefully measured and adjusted; and loudness must be carefully controlled separately for soft, medium, and loud speech. It is only when we put a microphone next to your eardrum, insert your hearing aid, and introduce carefully and purposefully recorded speech... that we can measure, evaluate, change, and verify how the hearing aids function and sound, in real-time and in real life.
Unfortunately, many clinics adjust and fit hearing aids using only a single computer. Your audiologist's clinical skills and the quality of his or her clinical tools will greatly alter the way your hearing aids are selected, fit, and tuned. Every hearing aid will sound very different depending on who measures and modifies the performance of the aids at the ear drums. While one clinician could perhaps get "the best" possible sound out of a basic hearing aid, another clinician may only be able to get mediocre sound quality from deluxe aids. Unfortunately, the vast majority of dispensing offices in the U.S. don't utilize the equipment necessary to measure "real ear," real world hearing aid performance.
Insurance Coverage
Prior to your appointment, it is recommended to contact your insurance company directly to verify coverage. Affordable Hearing Aids participates with most insurance companies including Blue Cross Blue Shield, Medicare Plus Blue, Aetna, Humana, and United Healthcare.
Automatic vs Manual Control of Hearing Aid Volume
Essentially, all hearing aids today have automatic, internal volume control that amplifies softer sounds more and louder sounds less. Modern aids, in fact, can effectively make over 1000 loudness/amplification changes per second in a complex listening environment. While automatic volume is important, manual volume control nearly always makes the difference between a person who will be "satisfied" vs "very satisfied" with their overall hearing aid experience. With the fine tuning of the manual volume control(s), your hearing aids should never be even a little bit too loud or too soft. Manual volume control is also important because hearing fluctuates, listening demands fluctuate, mood fluctuates, and the value of another's speech (depending on the topic of discussion or perhaps the speaker) also fluctuates. Always request a manual volume control whenever it makes sense. If it is later determined to be problematic and/or unnecessary, manual controls, such as a push button or volume wheel, are simply disabled and ignored.
Accessories
While simplicity and ease-of-use are highly desirable, sometimes hearing aid accessories can be quite helpful. Think, for example, how useful a handheld remote control can be to control hearing aid volume/loudness for a person with significant arthritis or other dexterity limits. Similarly, equipment used to stream your cell phone, television, and wireless devices straight into your hearing aids might be quite meaningful too especially to an active person frequently on the move.
Cleaning & Maintenance
Nearly all hearing aids have replacement parts (e.g., dust, & wax filters) and should be professionally serviced at least once yearly. Preventative maintenance schedules are individualized depending on factors such as excess wax or oil production, airborne particles found in all living environments, memory issues, travel, etc....
Warranty & Fees
New aids come with a manufacturer's warranty which covers unlimited repairs plus (one-time) accidental loss and damage replacement. Pricing for new aids typically includes comprehensive warranty coverage for 3 years. After the initial fitting process is complete, there are typically no additional fees for routine and customary hearing aid related services during the warranty period. In instances when the hearing aids are accidentally lost or destroyed, most manufacturers require a $250 to $300 fee to obtain brand new replacement aids. Nationally, hearing aids last an average of 4.7 years, but together we can usually do much better than average.