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Audiologists vs hearing aid stores

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In reply to @dowlinglawoffice

Interesting…I have Phonak Audeo Paradise P90R’s. I have no issue (touch wood) with mic performance. Mics are directional…do you use the app for your hearing aids? You could check your settings…or check in with your supplier to see if you need service.

DaveL

The Jabra Enhanced Pro 10 (from Costco) and the ReSound Omnia on which the Jabra is based both feature ‘Front Focus’, which focuses on the person in front of you. I haven’t found it to be useful, but each program needs to be tweaked in the Jabra/Resound app (The ReSound app works with my Jabras, but far from perfectly with my Android phone), and I’m still figuring out what works best. I don’t use FF very often, so it’s taking me a while.

Looking more like I’m going with my old audi and telling her what I want, instead of just going with her recommendations.

In a perfect world, the pros would evaluate my situation and know what is best for me, but it’s not a perfect world.

Bob

One quick thought, if she is not fitting many Phonaks, she may not be able to get the most out of the hearing aid. Knowing how to make the software “get up and dance” can make a difference.

I agree with @gorgeguy’s earlier comment that you should find a hearing care professional who uses best practices. A good way to screen for that is to ask if they do “real ear measurement” (). Some audiologists will post it on their website if they employ this basic procedure when fitting hearing aids.

@Don mentioned Zip Hearing, a good suggestion. A similar on line company is Hearing Revolution (www.hearingrevolution.com12). They are the direct-to-the-consumer arm of Hearing Care Solutions, which provides hearing aids for many insurance companies. I have found their prices in the past to be better than Zip’s. They offer the full spectrum of hearing aid companies, including Phonak.,and the full range of models within each company, all at significantly discounted prices. I have found them easy to work with. You buy the hearing aids from them and they mail them to an audiologist whom you choose from a list of options in your area. So, it is important to get the list of audiologists first so you can screen them in advance. Once you pick the audiologist, s/he does the fitting and you have the standard trial period to see if you want to keep them.

Another alternative is to try the Speech & Hearing Clinic if a nearby university if their is one near you which trains audiologists. They are highly likely to employ best practices because they teach this study and often do research as well. The clinic near me Carrie’s the full range of hearing companies and accepts insurance.

I have found that it is not uncommon for audiologist to favor one particular company. I assume that they get a bonus for reaching a certain sales volume. I hate this because it feels like dealing with a car salesman. The whole process of picking a hearing aid and a manufacturer can be very confusing and having an audiologist favoring one brand or another just adds to the confusion. If the audiologist doesn’t have hearing loss, they don’t really know what we experience.

Best of luck.

@billgem said:

I have found that it is not uncommon for audiologist to favor one particular company. I assume that they get a bonus for reaching a certain sales volume. I hate this because it feels like dealing with a car salesman.

Thanks for your thoughtful input.

This is exactly my suspicion although I have no evidence – it’s just a non-informed guess.

The more I research, the more I’m favoring staying with my current Audi.

She seems capable, is a nice person, and will supply me with Phonak.

Bob

I’ve read about pharmaceutical companies offering incentives to doctors to prescribe their drugs.

I know clothing brands offer incentives to sales people to push their lines.

And I know other salespeople who sell what they get the biggest commission on.

I had a friend who was a sales manager in an appliance store, and he definitely told his salesmen to push the brands that gave him the free vacations and other perks.

So I wouldn’t doubt that the hearing aid people have some kind of incentive plan, although I’ve never read about it. I have read other suspicions about that, but I haven’t seen any conclusive proof, so I don’t want to this to be misunderstood as an accusation, simply a suspicion.

So I need to go to my old audi, armed with the information about what I want.

Bob

This is the money world! Basic psychology 101. No matter what you call it …Money
Everyone has a story to tell.
The most important thing that’s matter is the consumer. Be educated and understand the pros and cons of the . Audiologsits or buying online does not matter. Your money. What you saved is yours. As long you are happy and be able to hear properly.
If you buy online and , you save tons of money. If not, you have to let the Audiologist to do it for you.
Do you homework and study. You decide on how to spend the money worthwhile.

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