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Audiologist not happy with my experiments

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Hello everyone, I have another question with regard to self-programming. I decided to be upfront about my experiments with programming and told my audiologist. She was really not impressed, told me I was irresponsible and how could I possible think I’d do a better job than her. She made me promise not to so again. She then went on the re-program my aids as she had done before (according to , ) and sent me on my way. So I’m basically back to square one, still not feeling that I am getting the best out of my aids. I have definitely had better settings before. But I also can’t really fault my audiologist - she seems to do a thorough job, except that I get the feeling that she is not listening to me / does not register my actual issues.

So here’s the question: is there any way of setting up my own program and using it without her noticing (switching back to “her” settings before I go to see her again)? Or will the software alert her that someone has been tampering with the hearing aid settings? I’m on the verge of walking out on her, but I’m a bit hesitant as I’m not sure I’ll find someone else around here who will be able to assist me with my hearing aids if they stop functioning. I have had them a bit less than two years.

Grateful on any insights you may have…

5 people in this conversation7 min readJump to latest

Well I’m afraid your possiblity
have to go the “your fired” way, you need to tell her it’s none of her business what you do with “your ” remember she works for you, not the other way round, so there’s always a time stamp when you connect and save, So just load the original settings when ever you need to go back in and if they ask anything just shrug your shoulders, honestly this shouldn’t be an issue for them, as you now you really don’t need to worry about this, no point in trying to be halfway on your DIY project, and the warranty for service is with the manufacturer not the clinic.

I don’t think there is a way for the to track temporary software programming changes done outside of their NOAH network, but then again I’ve never really looked for it. In some manufacturers’ datalogging I am able to see items like volume control adjustments and user EQ settings changed in a phone app. However, I treat this more like a form of subjective feedback to help guide follow-up fine tuning in office. If you were my patient I would want to run real ear with your settings just to see how they compare to prescriptive targets, particularly if they are settings you prefer and benefit more from. Unfortunately there are HCPs out there who don’t even want to activate volume control and just double down on counseling on acclimation. This approach is not without merit, but it simply doesn’t jive with a rehabilitative model.

@PaulC said:

I don’t think there is a way for the HCP to track temporary software programming changes done outside of their NOAH network

Have you tried using a different PC that was used to program a , but regardless the software detects the difference straight away with a time stamp, so you get asked as soon as you connect to load data from the last session or from HAs, sure it’s not a big thing, 95% of clinics would just brush it aside without a thought so no real issues for most.

@tenkan said:

the software detects the difference straight away

Yes, but if you connect in an old programming session you will be asked anyway due to detection of updated datalogging, so it is not necessarily indicative of someone doing programming outside of your clinic. Now, if I have fine tuning already pulled up, then I read from the devices, and fine tuning changes, then I would suspect outside programming as fine tuning changes are only something you can do in the software.

@PaulC said:

Yes, but if you connect in an old programming session you will be asked anyway due to detection of updated datalogging

Yes that’s correct, however the software always loads from the last saved session anyway.

I’m on the fence here. I kind of feel like one ought to decide that they are either going to self-program and take full responsibility for it, or have your audiologist adjust them.

I don’t think it’s fair to fiddle around with the settings and then put on your “angel face” when you go to the audiologist and have them fix the aids when you can’t get a result that you are happy with. If you had left the aids alone, the audi is starting from a known state. If you have made a bunch of changes, they can’t know what you have touched so it’s extra work for them.

In my youth, I worked in a machine shop and we had a humorous “price list” sign on the wall. The best humor always starts with a grain of truth…

Free Advice: $5.00
You pay us to fix it: $10.00/hour
You want to watch while we fix it: $15.00/hour
You want to help us fix it: $25.00/hour
You took it apart and realized that you couldn’t fix it: $100.00/hour
You took it apart and tried to fix it and then brought us a box of parts: $500.00/hour

Note that these were 1984 prices - adjust for inflation as appropriate.

Note that I am not against self-fitting/adjusting. I got my initial setup from my audiologist almost a year ago, bought my NoahLink Wireless almost immediately, and haven’t been back to see her. If I do have to go back for something, my plan is to restore the programming to where she left it.

In reply to @PaulC

@PaulC said:

This is true for Oticon, Unitron, and Resound, but not for Phonak, Widex, and Signia

I’m confused, are you saying the software loads “another” session from some time in the past? But no of course not,for a clinic you will get the option to load from last session(your choice) or right? ( So just putting aside the aspect for now) So either one will give you the “last” session loaded (programmed) to the HAs.

In reply to @Allen

@Allen said:

I’m on the fence here. I kind of feel like one ought to decide that they are either going to self-program and take full responsibility for it, or have your audiologist adjust them.

Yeah that’s one way you could go, but I’ve seen a number of people who’ve been happy with a project and then wanted done or just some advice, luckily there’s a number audiologists that are ok with it, I’ve found a couple over the years myself, but yeah like you I’ve not looked back for many a year now, although to get my custom molds made I’m forced to go through them for those :roll_eyes:

I self-program and take full responsibility for it, haven’t been back to costco after the first adjustment, got the aids to a point that I am happy so why go back.

In reply to @tenkan

Right. Also, I think we might be confusing each other! If I am connecting someone’s hearing aids for the first time, I can either create a new fitting or read the hearing aids’ programming. If I read the hearing aids’ programming, I can then save those settings as a session in our database to reference without the patient if needed. If I see that patient again, if I connect in an old session I can either read the session or the devices. If I read the session, assuming no outside programming is done, I will get the same settings as if I read the devices, but I would not have datalogging information. The differentiation in manufacturers is more of a database thing where if you start up a new session in a patient’s profile, some manufacturers will automatically bring up the last session without needing to connect hearing aids.

In reply to @Allen

I don’t disagree with this, in fact, I told her straight away that I had been playing with the settings, there was not putting on my angel face. But she took it badly, was even offended and actually scolded me like a little child. I am not worried about losing her programming skills (which don’t seem to work on me very well, even with ), I’m worried about losing access to support in case my hearing aids have technical issues, stop working etc. I am not sure I’ll be able to find another audiologist who deals with Signia around here. Perhaps I could just send them to Signia directly for such issues (if they occur), but I am not sure how this works around here (I’m in Portugal).

In reply to @snah76

Yes, again, I agree, I wish I could save myself those (pretty) pointless visits. Just worried that they’ll need cleaning, software updates, fixing etc… which I may not know how to do.

In reply to @tenkan

If the last saved session is identical to the audiologist’s last programming session, with me having reverted to her session after using my own settings in between visits, will this be obvious to her?

In reply to @val_ley

@val_ley said:

will this be obvious to her?

A time stamp difference, that’s all.

@val_ley said:

I am not sure I’ll be able to find another audiologist who deals with Signia around here.

It can be any audiologist clinic, doesn’t have to be one that sells Signia models.

@val_ley said:

Just worried that they’ll need cleaning, software updates, fixing etc… which I may not know how to do.

You can do everything yourself in this regard, cleaning- they just wipe them down, software/firmware updates - you do them within Connexx just like they would, easy as, fixing well this is where they send into the manufacturer, clinic’s don’t “fix” anything!

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