Audiology Perspectives: Forums

Private practice?

Arvin Jackson — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 22:54:42 GMT

Anyone here in private practice? I was just wondering how your sales are in '09 are compared to the year before. My sales are down 50% and was wondering if everyone else is experiencing the same.

Relative Value Units - 15 minute increments

Deborah Lyon — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 13:13:58 GMT

I am looking for information from anyone who is using Relative Value Units in 15 minute increments to document productivity in Audiology

Please respond if you want to share information.

Hughes Syndrome

Frank Visco — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 15:44:27 GMT

Our latest top story touches on Hughes Syndrome, an immune system disorder that is 'changing the face of neurology.'

Do you have any information about Hughes Syndrome that you would like to share?

Please help improve Health Care...

Mark Hopp — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 01:27:07 GMT

I've been a PT Assistant for 14 years, have a BS in Accounting and soon to have a Nursing Degree. I'm very concerned about the idea of a blanket universal health care and want to keep the same programs and improve those already in place...which has never happened. Government Run Health Care DOES NOT WORK, ask anyone in Europe and/or Canada! I'm concerned as a practitioner, as a son, as a citizen of this country. I've researched it and realize that Government run health care or even a "Public Option" (which will only lead to a blanket plan) has many undesirable problems and really doesn't give people "effective" access to health care. I am asking people to mail into their senators and congressmen regarding this. I have typed up a letter for you to copy, print, sign, and mail in to them. Here are 2 websites for you to find out their address:

https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Do YOU value Your JOB as my representative?

Then Say "NO" to:

1) Competing Government Health Care or Public Option !

2) Socialized Medicine!

And Say "YES" to:

1) Medical Tort Reform to stop frivolous lawsuits and maintain our current system!!!

2) Requiring co-pays on all lawsuit patients to reduce the waste & return honesty to the system!!

3) Implement Hospital Pricing Transparency to create competition and reduce costs!

4) Implement programs nationwide to promote health, reduce our Obesity rate (The highest in the world)!!

5) Give Tax Credits to those that purchase insurance as incentive to purchase it!!!

Normal 0

Obesity has skyrocketed in this country and its killing us both physically and financially. Japan has one of the best health results while spending the least. They have one of the highest percentage of daily smokers and one of the lowest percentages of obesity! We are costing ourselves from eating fatty food and not exercising! We must reduce this first before we waste $trillions on our system. Its not our medical system but our society weight that is the big problem!

We already have Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid! lets work within the programs we already have and make some reform there!!!

Tinnitus Practitioner's Association

Frank Visco — Tue, 26 May 2009 18:11:04 GMT

Plans and goals for the recently introduced Tinnitus Practitioner's Association (TPA) are outlined in our current Top Story. Do you have any suggestions or ideas for the TPA as it begins to take shape?

SSHL

Sean Smith — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 20:44:29 GMT

EDITOR'S NOTE: The below comment was originally posted to the article Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss, and reposted here to allow for more discussion.

Saturday Jan. 31 was just a normal day. I did some house cleaning nothing out of the ordinary. Went to bed, woke up about 3 a.m. and could not hear out of my right ear. I thought maybe it was because I slept on my ear wrong so I went back to bed. Around 6 a.m. I woke up with vertigo so bad that everytime I turned my head I would throw up! I thought OK, I have an ear infection. Went to the doctor the next day; he said my ear looked fine and it might be my sinus swollen. He put me on amoxocillin and sudafed. That was Monday. By Friday there was no change except the vomiting had stopped. Still had terrible vertigo and no hearing to my right ear. I called my MD he refered me to an ENT. The ENT did an MRI and Labwork. He also put me onpredisone and antivert. The antivert only helped a very little. The predisone did nothing. I went back to the ENT last week. He told my my labwork and MRI were negative. He also told me that I have SSHL. I am still dizzy at times and my hearing loss to my right ear is completely gone.
I would love to hear from others who are suffering from this. And if anyone has any suggestions to help deal with SSHL. Thank you so much.
My e-mail is jenbly414@yahoo.com

Jennifer Blythe

Nerve pathway development

Sean Smith — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:19:59 GMT

I'm a hearing impaired teacher in Bryan County, Ga. We have a 3-year-old student with a bilateral sensorineural loss that is moderate to moderately severe.

Our audiologist tested him in August. Back then he was wearing hearing aids intermediately and had a middle ear infection. Several months later our SLP tested and qualified him for articulation. He struggles with the "P" sound.

My question is nerve related. Our student just started with hearing aids when we first saw him. How long does it take for the nerve pathways to develop before they recognize the sound? Is there a time period that usually takes place? Also, do you know of any research on this?

Thanks,

Clay Renick

Ringing in ear following accident

Sean Smith — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 22:29:50 GMT

EDITOR'S NOTE: The below comment was originally posted to the article Aibags & Ear Damage, and reposted here to allow for more discussion.

Two years ago a road accident happened and after recovering from a serious head injury, I felt a ringing sound coming from my head. I also can't attend my phone from the right ear. After BERA test an ENT surgeon found that the left ear was alright but the right ear is showing an echo problem, and the problem since is demotivating me. What can i do? Please tell me any alternatives.

Rohit Chawla, Student, TU
L.A, NY

Letter to the Editor: Response to "Letter to the Candidates"

Sean Smith — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 22:55:08 GMT

Thank you for contacting us and for sharing your policy ideas for Senator Obama. Barack knows well that Washington does not have a monopoly on good ideas, and neither does he. That is why it's important to hear from everyone, and we will take your solutions under consideration.

Since his days as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago, Barack has made it his life's work to advocate for policies based on the needs and ideas of everyday Americans. We encourage you to find like-minded individuals in your area and online and organize them to help develop and support the policies you favor.

You can also share more of your thoughts on policy through our My Policy Web site tool, which allows you to collaborate with other supporters and policy experts. Visit http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/mypolicy to get started.

Thank you again for taking the time to share your ideas and your interest. We're building a strong campaign all across the country thanks to people like you.

Darcy

Correspondent

Obama for America

Letter to the Editor: Internet Selling Must Cease

Sean Smith — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 22:48:25 GMT

Thanks for the opportunity to address the issue of dispensing and selling hearing aids from the Internet without a person-to-person visit to a physician, audiologist or hearing instrument specialist.

I have been in the hearing help profession for over 40 years. Never have I witnessed such a callous disregard for the FDA rule about hearing aid dispensing. Unscrupulous and greedy merchants are selling hearing aids on the Internet without a test or exam by a qualified, licensed professional.

It is shameful! It is wrong! And it must be stopped before the public's ears are harmed and the profession is again branded as uncaring and deceitful.

It is time our senators and congressmen, as well as our state licensing boards, grab the bull by the horns and make them cease and desist from this unlawful practice.

JD Fishman, BC-HIS

President

Fishman's Acousticon Hearing Aid Service Inc.

Burlington, NJ

Letter to the Editor: Migraine's Role in Vertigo

Sean Smith — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 22:33:41 GMT

Regarding the statement "Migraine simply causes far more vertigo than any other condition," attributed to TC Hain, MD, in "Migraine in Balance Patients," pages 71-74, ADVANCE for Audiologists, November/December 2008:

This is not correct. "Migraine is the second most common cause of recurrent vertigo after BPPV," (Neuhauser, HK. (2007). Epidemiology of vertigo. Current Opinion in Neurology, 20(1), 40-46.

Please make this correction in the next issue of the publication Advance for Audiologists.

Charles W. Bering, AuD, CCC-A/SLP

Co-ordinator of clinical research

Emory Tinnitus & Hypercusis Center

Emory School of Medicine

Dept. of Otolaryngology Head-Neck Surgery

Atlanta, GA

Modern research's impact in the years to come

Sean Smith — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 20:14:01 GMT

How do you think successful hair cell regeneration and stem cell research will impact your audiological practice in the years to come? Say 5 to 10 years? Beyond?

Waiting for science

Sean Smith — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 17:38:00 GMT

A reader recently commented on one of our online stories (The Miracle of the Cells) saying she was holding off on an implant for her 13-year-old daughter, who went deaf overnight 4 years ago, in hope she can become a candidate for hair cell regeneration. While progress has been made in research, there is no telling how many years away we are from seeing hair cell regeneration in humans. While every patient's case is unique, how would you advise patients and parents of children with severe hearing deficiencies on the issue of not seeking a CI in favor of waiting for the research to catch up?

AAA Ethics

tcass21 — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 17:23:57 GMT

The AAA ethics committee recently proposed more stringent guidelines for audiologic practice, particularly with respect to accepting gifts/incentives from corporate entities. Are these new guidelines too strict? Are they necessary? Will they hinder audiologic care or do we indeed need even more rigorous ethics requirements?