Hearing Economics

Featured image for “Price Functions in the US Wholesale Hearing Aid Market”
Jul. 19, 2016

Price Functions in the US Wholesale Hearing Aid Market

Holly Hosford-Dunn
This series now steps into the dark and murky realm of manufacturers’ wholesale pricing of product to see how the market has changed since 2013.  The caveats remain the same:   Big assumptions:  Categorical lines separating Economy, Premium, and everything in between are arbitrary to some extent, reflecting the varying family of products, product-specific technology levels, and price points adopted by
Featured image for “US Hearing Device Patents May-June 2016”
Jul. 12, 2016

US Hearing Device Patents May-June 2016

Holly Hosford-Dunn
“Space is a scarce resource in a hearing aid.” That simple but powerful observation heralds the purpose of Oticon’s US patent #9338569 (Portable Electronic Device Comprising a Folded Substrate), shown in the title image. That purpose is to cram as much amplification technology as possible into the smallest space. Oticon’s next patented step is to use the folded substrate in a
Featured image for “Waiting for the Third Shoe (of Three) to Drop”
Jul. 05, 2016

Waiting for the Third Shoe (of Three) to Drop

Holly Hosford-Dunn
“Peeling the Onion” is a monthly column by Harvey Abrams, PhD.   My last post, “Waiting for the Second Shoe (of three) to Drop” online pharmacy stendra for sale with best prices today in the USA , was written just before the most recent IoM report was published. Now that it has, we are waiting for the last of the Hearing Health
Featured image for “Price Functions in the US Retail Hearing Aid Market, Part 2”
Jun. 28, 2016

Price Functions in the US Retail Hearing Aid Market, Part 2

Holly Hosford-Dunn
by Holly Hosford-Dunn, PhD & Amyn Amlani, PhD   Average Sale Price of hearing aids in the US retail market (ASP) grew at the rate of inflation from 2004-2011, peaked in price in 2012 and declined each year thereafter. At no time has ASP ever hit $6K/set, no matter how many times that anchor price gets bandied around. These are the
Featured image for “NAS Issues Recommendations: An Entire Industry Changes……… Think Again”
Jun. 21, 2016

NAS Issues Recommendations: An Entire Industry Changes……… Think Again

Holly Hosford-Dunn
“Signal & Noise” is a bimonthly column by Brian Taylor, AuD. A few weeks ago the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) issued their report on the status of hearing health care for adults and their 12 recommendations for improving it. This report was billed as landmark, groundbreaking and a major milestone, and, if it is received by key stakeholders like
Featured image for “Mucking Around with Hearing Aid Price, Again”
Jun. 14, 2016

Mucking Around with Hearing Aid Price, Again

Holly Hosford-Dunn
by Holly Hosford-Dunn, PhD and Amyn Amlani,PhD   The Pricing series revs up for a multi-year update today, just in time to get in on the PCAST and IOM action of recent days and await signs from the FDA.  In 2013, the announced intent was to “dive down and muck around with Price to test accepted assumptions.”  Time for more
Featured image for “On the PCAST Report and the FDA Hearings”
Jun. 07, 2016

On the PCAST Report and the FDA Hearings

Holly Hosford-Dunn
Downstream Consequences of Aging is a bi-monthly series written by guest columnist Barbara Weinstein, PhD.  Today’s post is especially timely, on the heels of the IOM final report and anticipating the FDA review process that generated 160 stakeholder comments.1    The focus of the public workshop hosted by the FDA on April 21, entitled “Streamlining for Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP)
Featured image for “Waiting for the Second Shoe (of Three) to Drop”
May. 31, 2016

Waiting for the Second Shoe (of Three) to Drop

Holly Hosford-Dunn
“Peeling the Onion” is a monthly column by Harvey Abrams, PhD.   Before we get started, a disclaimer: This post will name names – hearing aid products, a health insurance company, and hearing health care benefit programs. I have no financial or non-financial interests in any of the products/companies mentioned except as a subscriber to the GEHA national health insurance
Featured image for “Barriers in the US Hearing Aid Market, post script”
May. 24, 2016

Barriers in the US Hearing Aid Market, post script

Holly Hosford-Dunn
Since its inception, Hearing Economics has toiled persistently, if not rigorously, to infuse basic economic thinking and its lexicon into the audiology world. The goal is to broaden our view, giving us more opportunities to strengthen our grip on our profession. In that spirit, the five-post barriers series fits into the Econ 202 discourse which pops up occasionally.  Econ posts
Featured image for “End of Barriers, Part 4”
May. 17, 2016

End of Barriers, Part 4

Holly Hosford-Dunn
This is the almost-final Econ 202 post on barriers that exist in the US hearing aid manufacturing and delivery system.1   Parts 1 online pharmacy https://thehatcherychicago.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/124.html no prescription pharmacy ,  2 and 3 addressed regulatory requirements that discourage new entrants; legal and economic definitions of barrier to industry entry/exit; structural and strategic barriers in the hearing aid industry; and specific strategic barriers used by incumbent manufacturers