Hearing Economics

Editor’s Note: This post garnered most readership in 2017. It first appeared on April 4, 2017 in Hearing Economics. Costco has enthusiastically embraced hearing aids as store-in-store revenue builders in all of its burgeoning warehouse locations since the mid-90s. The rate of Costco hearing aid center growth (feature image, red) has outstripped warehouse growth (blue) in recent years. Both are on fast

As 2017 ends, editors at HHTM were tasked with finding their all-time favorite posts and republishing them. I opted for the silly posts because they were the most fun to write. Among many silly posts, two stood out and tied for all-time silliest. The winners are amended, abridged and republished today for my reading entertainment, and possibly for that of

by Amyn Amlani, PhD The uptake of traditional hearing aids—not just in the United States (US), but globally—has yet to reach its maximum potential. In a recent blog,1 it was reported that hearing aid uptake is highest in Norway (42.5%), the United Kingdom (UK; 41.1%), and Switzerland (38.8%), in which these devices are either fully (i.e., Norway, Switzerland) or primarily

by Brian Taylor, AuD “Signal & Noise” is a bimonthly column by Brian Taylor, AuD. It’s natural to feel frustrated and unappreciated when a patient with hearing loss rejects your recommendation of hearing aids. It’s even worse when patients with this chronic condition fail to even make an appointment for an evaluation. Those negative feelings, alas, are the by-product of the

“Peeling the Onion” is a monthly column by Harvey Abrams, PhD.   This will be my last post as part of the “Peeling the Onion” series. When I first began these articles, I felt its name was an apt metaphor for the issues facing hearing healthcare in general and the audiology profession in particular – I still do. Over the

The Hearable Lament:   Hearing Economics looks forward to this time next year when we get to see the 2017 Hearables Hot Potato finalists.  Of course they’ll be tinier and cuter, but we hope they’ll also be multitalented, highly articulate, and dedicated to assisting everyone with ears, even people with hearing loss who want to listen to music while they swim. 

Barbara Weinstein’s “Downstream Consequences of Aging” appears bi-monthly at HearingHealthMatters.org. Today’s post is part 2 of a series on reframing the clinical conversation with older adults.   The hearing healthcare delivery landscape is in transition with the emphasis being placed on affordability and access.  President Trump’s signing of the 2017 Food and Drug Reauthorization Act, guarantees that a new category of

“Peeling the Onion” is a monthly column by Harvey Abrams, PhD.   About 18 months ago, I came across an interesting letter to the editor in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The author was Donald Berwick.For those of you unfamiliar with this distinguished health care policy expert, Dr. Berwick is a former administrator of the Centers for

by Brian Taylor, AuD “Signal & Noise” is a bimonthly column by Brian Taylor, AuD.   Over the past two years, since the now infamous PCAST report calling for the creation of a category of products sold directly to consumers, there has been seemingly non-stop chatter and deliberation about the roles and responsibilities of audiologists in the changing clinical landscape. Most

Hearing aid patents continue to offer excitement, especially for audiophiles in pursuit of “natural” sound. The simple act of sticking something in the ear, whether occluding or not, has measurable effects at the ear drum. Patent #9769575 looks at those effects with the intent of correcting distortions of magnitude and phase (Fig 1). Magnitude effects are something we’re familiar with