Medical Devices: Bah!

[David9683]

ZCT, when I get new hearing aids, it doesn't take 6-52 months for my brain to adjust. It takes me a few minutes because I'm a 25 year veteran of hearing correction.

Point well made in previous post with "How does that sound?" New HAs programmed and turned on, and that little phrase is going to mean something? If I were running a clinic, there would be some quality speakers and digital sound samples. I'd ask users to listen to the samples with and without the HAs.

[Don]

Originally Posted by ZCT

Also it is important to note that America has one of the most aggressive criminal justice programs in the world, resulting in more people being locked up in jail than any other country. So it would be pretty easy to argue that guns aren't the reason for crime stats, jailing anyone who looks vaguely suspicious, poor or a minority, might have more to do with the lowering of violent crime, as opposed to gun laws.

So are you saying innocent people are being convicted of crimes or that more guilty people should go free? Those seem to be the only two choices, based on your logic.

To Um Bongo and English Dispenser, if you visit the US you will not be jailed for looking "vaguely suspicious". I'm not saying you look vaguely suspicious (I have no idea how you look).

More evidence that guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens lower crime.
http://www.stephenhalbrook.com/artic...ime-swiss.html

[Um bongo]

Originally Posted by Don

So are you saying innocent people are being convicted of crimes or that more guilty people should go free? Those seem to be the only two choices, based on your logic.

To Um Bongo and English Dispenser, if you visit the US you will not be jailed for looking "vaguely suspicious". I'm not saying you look vaguely suspicious (I have no idea how you look).

More evidence that guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens lower crime.
http://www.stephenhalbrook.com/artic...ime-swiss.html

ED looks dodgy at the best of times. He ought to be locked up, stuck in an orange suit and allowed to try the water based activities......

[prodigyplace]

Originally Posted by ZCT

Well I was expecting a rant about $200 hearing aids from Walmart that are magic and self fitting, so I have to say I was refreshed by what you wrote.

I was working with a patient yesterday and he popped into my head as I was reading what you said.

Some people are not good at articulating how they hear, and so it ends up with some guess work on the part of a hearing professional trying to get things right.

I think the Starkey Soundpoint system is a step in the right direction for giving the patient some significant levels of control over the sound. In a study of the technology 44% of patients found improvement over the regular dispenser settings.

Perhaps companies will take this kind of concept further and it will lead to better fittings down the road. After all better fittings lead to fewer returns, and that creates more profit. So it's not like the companies are not on board with the concept of helping people get closer to whatever makes them happy.

I have a quick question regarding Soundpoint. Do you normally run it several times or just once?

My HIS tried Soundpoint on my last visit. He reset my aids back to factory, ran feedback tests, and then Soundpoint on his laptop. I noticed that soundpoint starst in the middle of the screen and I chose way toward one edge. I suggested we run it again, but he did not want to do that or make any further adjustments. I thought running it again could place my selection in the center and perhaps I would like a setting better that was off the original screen.

[MinnesotaHIS]

Originally Posted by prodigyplace

I have a quick question regarding Soundpoint. Do you normally run it several times or just once?

My HIS tried Soundpoint on my last visit. He reset my aids back to factory, ran feedback tests, and then Soundpoint on his laptop. I noticed that soundpoint starst in the middle of the screen and I chose way toward one edge. I suggested we run it again, but he did not want to do that or make any further adjustments. I thought running it again could place my selection in the center and perhaps I would like a setting better that was off the original screen.

This experience would probably be best explored in a new topic. Here it's going to get lost in the mix of US vs EU and gun control debates!

I'll say this: If you're new to hearing aids and were first fit with your hearing aids within the last couple weeks then your HIS may be justified in trying to minimize the adjustments you're trying to make. Best results are often obtained by "sucking it up" for a couple weeks and then AT THAT POINT adjusting to subjective preference. If you've worn hearing aids before or are past the 2-week mark then your HIS should be willing to make whatever adjustments are necessary to make you happy. If he is highly resistant to doing this and won't articulate why I would be concerned and might consider seeking out another professional to work with if this continues to be the case.

On SoundPoint: This really isn't used to fine tune your hearing aids. A skilled professional will manually tune your hearing aids to a point where (based on your responses) they feel they have you pretty well setup and it's unlikely that additional adjustments they might make will improve your listening experience. If you still feel that something is "lacking" (and there always will be something lacking relative to normal hearing) or that the hearing aids just don't quite sound "right" then this is when they most commonly would break out SoundPoint. SoundPoint allows very crude control over the amount of compression your hearings aids are using and a very rough balance between low and high frequency gain. It will have a very real effect on the way things sound to you, but as far as objective performance (being able to understand more words in a challenging setting) it shouldn't make a significant difference. Your hearing professional isn't "wrong" for breaking out SoundPoint earlier in the process, but just make sure he isn't trying to use it as a substitute for him making manual adjustments that actually help you hear better.

Edit: I should also add that not every professional will use SoundPoint on a Starkey fit. If a patient asks for it I'll certainly break it out, but otherwise it's not something I would normally use with the majority of my patients.

[ed121]

UM Bongo: Yes I agree this guy, ED, looks like a spy from Mars that is planning an invasion shortly.

ED

[David9683]

HIS, what percentage of your clients would be capable of making adjustments to their own HAs?

[Um bongo]

Originally Posted by David9683

HIS, what percentage of your clients would be capable of making adjustments to their own HAs?

5-10% are slightly interested in looking at the programming and of those only probably 20% are sufficiently motivated to do it. So 1-2% overall. Really thin end of the wedge tbh.

[JohnC]

Originally Posted by Um bongo

5-10% are slightly interested in looking at the programming and of those only probably 20% are sufficiently motivated to do it. So 1-2% overall. Really thin end of the wedge tbh.

What is exactly do you mean by "programming" though. I don't want to program, but I'd love to be able to set my default preferences.

[Um bongo]

Originally Posted by JohnC

What is exactly do you mean by "programming" though. I don't want to program, but I'd love to be able to set my default preferences.

Being able to set-up the gain of the aid themselves: generally people who genuinely feel they can't get by without some control over the aid.