Selecting a hearing care provider is an important decision. Why? Because finding the most qualified and dependable professional can mean the difference between being successful and satisfied with your hearing aids…or not.
No doubt, you choose other health care professionals—your general practitioner, ophthalmologist, cardiologist, podiatrist, just to name a few—very carefully. Your hearing care professional is no different. Perhaps what makes the process most challenging are the many choices—from types of care providers to brands, levels and styles of hearing technology. Information can be confusing, even contradictory. Being educated about modern hearing healthcare and hearing aids allows you to make the most informed decision for your best outcome.
Here’s what you need to know about the two kinds of professionals—audiologists and hearing instrument specialists—who are licensed to sell and fit hearing aids in the states Johnson Audiology serves—Tennessee and Georgia.
TWO TYPES OF HEARING CARE PROVIDERS: VERY DIFFERENT CREDENTIALS
An Audiologist’s credentials
Audiologists complete extensive university coursework to receive a clinical doctor-ate in audiology, earning their bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degrees over the course of eight years.
Through extensive graduate level coursework, what do they learn:
Throughout their graduate-level study, Audiologists are supervised in clinical rotations for all age levels in the following settings:
During each semester of the four-year graduate school enrollment, a student will:
Applicants for licensure as an Audiologist in Tennessee must:
A hearing Instrument specialist’s training
A dispenser/hearing instrument specialist (HIS) is the second professional permitted to sell and issue hearing aids in Tennessee and Georgia.
For initial apprentice licensure, an HIS must:
Upon apprenticeship completion, an HIS must:
A HIS must:
As you consider who you want to trust as your lifelong partner on your journey to healthier hearing. ask yourself these questions:
Misconceptions and Facts
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Here are some tips when searching for your hearing care professional:
*This link leads to the machine-readable files that are made available in response to the federal Transparency in Coverage Rule and includes negotiated service rates and out-of-network allowed amounts between health plans and healthcare providers. The machine readable files are formatted to allow researchers, regulators, and application developers to more easily access and analyze data.
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