If you hadn’t heard about telehealth before 2020, you almost certainly have heard of it by now! With quarantine mandates and social distancing measures, many health care practitioners are looking to provide telehealth options for their patients.
Telehealth is a system of providing healthcare services remotely. Most of the time, this is done with a healthcare provider and patient communicating over some type of secure video chat service. Telehealth can also be provided over the phone, or even via text. Basically, telehealth is an umbrella term for any time services in the health care field are being provided without the patient and the provider physically being in the same place.
When telehealth is provided by hearing health care professionals or audiologists, it is typically termed “teleaudiology”. Some health care fields are more easily transitioned to a telehealth model, while others, such as hearing health care can be a bit trickier.
Hearing Care Services and Their Compatibility with Teleaudiology Services
Below, we will walk through some of the most common types of services provided in a hearing health care clinic, and their compatibility with teleaudiology.
Hearing Screenings and Diagnostic Assessments
Taking a hearing test is the first step towards treating your hearing loss. It is also an extremely important one. The results of your hearing screen – your unique hearing profile – will be the foundation for your hearing health treatment plan. Unfortunately, hearing assessments are not yet the most compatible with teleaudiology. For example, is very difficult to ensure proper calibration of volume coming from a patient’s computer. It is also very hard to control the sound environment of the patient attempting to take a hearing test remotely.
While in-depth and throughout hearing assessments are still difficult to provide remotely, one can still take an online hearing test as a baseline. There are many websites as well as apps that can be downloaded where you can take a self-administered hearing assessment from the comfort of your own home. We have a convenient hearing health screener located directly on our website. Click here to take one! This will give you a good general idea of your hearing ability and important information you can use to decide whether or not to get a more thorough hearing assessment.
Hearing Aid Fittings and Adjustments
Appointments to get your hearing aids fitted and adjusted are also extremely important. During these appointments, your hearing aids are professionally fine-tuned by your hearing health provider to match your unique hearing profile. The first time doing this process with new hearing aids is called a “fitting” and thereafter is considered an “adjustment” or “reprogramming.” These appointments are where the real magic happens, because this is when hearing aids are adjusted to most closely align with your unique hearing profile, your listening preferences, and your lifestyle. Fortunately, most manufacturers have developed technology that allows audiologists to fine tune your hearing aids from anywhere in the world – making these types of appointments extremely compatible with teleaudiology services. You and your hearing health provider can video chat and discuss where your hearing aids are or are not working from you, and she can make adjustments to your aids while you relax in the comfort of your own living room.
Hearing Aid Cleaning and Repairs
An appointment for hearing aid maintenance and repair are so vast and varied, that it is difficult to determine whether or not these appointments are compatible with teleaudiology. As a general rule, it is possible to provide teleaudiology services for some basic maintenance needs. Your audiologist can walk you through the process to properly care for and clean your hearing aids via video conference. If the damage to your hearing aids is more intensive, then your audiologist will also most likely be able to determine that remotely, and can work with you to get the aids sent into the manufacturer for the needed repairs.
Is Teleaudiology Right for You?
Whether you are an established patient looking to add more flexibility to your options or are just curious about hearing healthcare, reach out to our friendly team at Hearing Wellness Solutions today. We would love an opportunity to speak with you and help you determine whether or not teleaudiology and remote services are the right choice for you and your hearing health.
