I recently had a customer tell me that an Audiologist offered to sell him a pair of hearing aids for $8000. This post is going to explain why the prices are so high.
First....The main reason is that the hearing aid manufacturers and audiologists have a self-preserving high margin deal to keep the price for hearing aids as high as the market will bare—what you are willing to pay.
In the United States, the licensing of hearing professionals is governed and the responsibility of the each state. The audiologist and dispenser lobby groups have had a history of success with their lock-hold on who is allowed to dispense hearing aids. The Audiologists and lobbies are a powerful group and use the full weight of the law to enforce the Licensed Dispensers rule. Some states require an audiologist or dispenser in that State to dispense a hearing aid, and some allow reciprocity from other States i.e. a person in one state can purchase from an audiologist in another State. There are a small number of States that do not require a licensed audiologist or dispenser for a person to purchase a hearing aid.
There was apparently some interpretation a federal statute as labeling hearing aids as potentially prescription devices. This apparently was some misreading of statute and the market is now opening up with a Waiver--the Waiver procedure was granted and allows audiologists and dispensers to have a patient sign the Waiver that essentially says that they (the patient) waive their right to visit a physician for a checkup before a hearing aid is dispensed by an audiologist.
The FDA requires the waiver to be signed and kept on file at a dispensers office. Most States follow the FDA requirements and require that all purchasers of hearing aids sign the Waiver before purchasing a hearing aid. For Century Hearing Aids, this at the checkout process. Some states, like Connecticut and Maryland, do not allow online sellers to sell into their respective states.
Hearing Aids range in price from $300 to $8000, and the cost to manufacturer with profit included is between $75 and $500. You can have hearing aids manufactured in China or India for about $6 - $15 and sell on eBay for a as low as $20 but they are historically unreliable—and low quality—the maxim applies: you get what you pay for—forget about asking for repairs—just buy new ones.
Just as Intel supplies chips to 95% of all Personal Computers today, the chip inside of most hearing aids in made by one-two companies. So 90% of all hearings aids that are made today—have the same technology inside. So, regardless of the advanced blue-tooth features on a hearing aid, the shiny rainbow of color casings; regardless of all the massive marketing and advertising budgets, hearing aids costs less than $250 to manufacture.
So why do hearing aids cost so much?
Lets take 10,000 foot view of the hearing aid supply chain...which is how the products are made and delivered to the customer...
First, the Hearing aid manufacturer: A hearing aid manufacturer will mark up his hearing aid between 75% and 150%, depending on features and competition. So the manufacturer earns between a healthy 35% and 75% gross margin. This means that the cost of the hearing aid to a reseller will be somewhere between $150 and $600 on the average (some of the newer "open fit" hearing aids are sold to the reseller for up to $800).
Next, the Hearing Aid Reseller Chain: At the present time, 90% of all hearing aids are sold through Audiologists and Hearing Aid Specialists. There are also a few ENT (Ear Nose, Throat) physicians and some family doctors who team up with resellers to sell hearing aids but this only accounts for 2% of all hearing aid sales. There are only about 9,000 audiologists and about 3,000 dispensers in the USA. There are over 10 major hearing hearing aid manufacturers with the top 3 being Starkey, Siemens, and Phonak. Audiologists and Dispensers are courted aggressively by the manufacturers as once a product is chosen, it takes a lot of effort for another manufacturer to dislodge the manufacturer in place at that office.
So who is making the money on hearing aids?
It does not take an math whiz to see that the hearing aid reseller chain is the party making the most money and forcing the cost of hearing aids to remain high. This is the opposite of a free market. If an audiologist is selling a hearing aid for $3,000 and purchases it for even $600, that is a 500% markup. Now that's a healthy margin. Audiologist and Licensed dispensers have a stranglehold on the hearing aid market which artificially forces higher prices onto the consumer.
Not so long ago, reading glasses would have been "fitted" by an optometrist much like prescription glasses and would have cost potentially hundreds of dollars each pair, but the wisdom of the market prevailed, under the implicit acknowledgment that the vast majority of cases of people needing reading glasses don't require prescription-fitting. Pretty much everybody gets nearsighted in the same manner, albeit differing in gradation; so it's just a matter of finding the right amount of correction in purchasing the new reading glasses. You can try one pair and then another until you are comfortable. There's the possibility that one eye's visual correction need is different from the other's, and for those people optometrist consultation might be in order; however for nearly everybody else, off the shelf reading glass purchases are adequate.
Recent statistics show that 10,000 people enter social security everyday. 36 million baby boomers with up to 30% experiencing hearing loss. This is a group that could ill afford to dish out $3000 for hearing aids...so they go without.
Audiologists and dispensers can cite the cost of overhead: office space, personnel, etc. They can also talk about the personal service: fitting, making sure the hearing aid is programmed properly and reprogrammed etc. But the bottom line, pricing has much more to do with lack of access than technology which means customers are still funneled through licensed dispensers.
What about that customer that was offered two hearing aids for $8000...well he bought two from Century Hearing Aids for $699.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
HEARING LOSS AND IT’S EFFECTS
It is common for adults to have some hearing loss. The older we get, the poorer our hearing becomes. Hearing loss usually begins gradually with certain words sounding soft, muffled and/or distorted. This change often makes listening a difficult task, especially in noisy areas.
People with a hearing loss often feel that they can hear fine but cannot understand what is being said. In most cased, people with hearing loss have more difficulty hearing high pitch sounds. The consonants s, z, f, v, sh, and th, are difficult to hear if you have high pitch hearing loss.
If a person hears low pitches normally, he/she usually hears vowel sounds normally. This is why many people feel that they can hear fine. But when a person only hears vowel sounds, they are not hearing enough of the word to understand it. This makes speech sound like it is being mumbled.
Hearing aids and speech-reading may be able to help you with this type of hearing loss. These tools will help you understand conversations better. Unfortunately, hearing aids can’t make us hear as well as when we were younger but they do improve our hearing and allow us to hear more than we could before using them.
Here is a chart measuring Frequencies and Decibels of common sounds,
People with a hearing loss often feel that they can hear fine but cannot understand what is being said. In most cased, people with hearing loss have more difficulty hearing high pitch sounds. The consonants s, z, f, v, sh, and th, are difficult to hear if you have high pitch hearing loss.
If a person hears low pitches normally, he/she usually hears vowel sounds normally. This is why many people feel that they can hear fine. But when a person only hears vowel sounds, they are not hearing enough of the word to understand it. This makes speech sound like it is being mumbled.
Hearing aids and speech-reading may be able to help you with this type of hearing loss. These tools will help you understand conversations better. Unfortunately, hearing aids can’t make us hear as well as when we were younger but they do improve our hearing and allow us to hear more than we could before using them.
Here is a chart measuring Frequencies and Decibels of common sounds,
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Guest Post from Dr. Randall Bock M.D.
Hearing Aids Versus Reading Glasses
Guest Post from Doctor Randall Bock M.D.
Hearing aids cost thousands of dollars. In my early dotage ;-) currently 53 years old, I recently found imperfection in my near-vision (as we all do, over time). Probably I was laboring for a year or so before caving in: purchasing reading glasses. I am using them right now and they have made all the difference.
In the space of a few months, this year, I went from no reading glasses to seven pairs. I bought all seven online together as a package recently, for the grand sum of $10.00. That comes out to less than $1.50 per pair. As a result I keep one set by my bedside, one in the kitchen, one at my office, one in the car etc.; always at hand.
Not so long ago, reading glasses would have been "fitted" by an optometrist much like prescription glasses would have cost potentially hundreds of dollars each pair, but the wisdom of the market prevailed, under the implicit acknowledgment that the vast majority of cases of people needing reading glasses doesn't require prescription-fitting. Pretty much everybody gets nearsighted in the same manner, albeit differing in gradation; so it's just a matter of finding the right amount of correction in purchasing the new reading glasses. You can try one pair and then another until you are comfortable. There's the possibility that one eye's visual correction need is different from the other 's, and for those people optometrist consultation might be in order; however for nearly everybody else, off the shelf reading glass purchases are adequate, after trying different diopter-gradations of the eyeglasses.
Age-related diminishment in near-visual acuity is a result of change in the shape of the eyeball, essentially the drying out of the intraocular gel. This is nearly uniform although some of us get it earlier than others. Because the problem is pretty much the same for everybody, although differing slightly in degree, the solution is nearly the same for everybody. As a result , there is a great economy of scale, and eyeglass-fitting for hundreds of millions if not billions of people just a matter of choosing a correction-level and finding a nice style, really no harder than buying a pair of gloves and probably easier than buying a pair of shoes.
Along the same lines of losing our near vision gradually, pretty much much we all lose our hearing, or more harshly said "go deaf" in the same manner as each other (with aging that is).
If we can fit gloves, reading glasses, or shoes so easily: usually for relatively little indentation into our pocketbooks, why then do hearing aids cost thousands of dollars? I recently bought a replacement Bluetooth earpiece, and it cost me all of $20. This Bluetooth coordinates with a variety of telephones and computer and other devices. It is tiny and extremely complicated. It has volume adjustments, battery-saving mode and probably a bunch of other features that I have not figured out yet.
Why is this purchasing paradigm so different from that of hearing aids'? I know that a hearing aid has to augment sound yet not overdo it in case a loud sound occurs whereupon the hearing aid 's amplification could damage the eardrum. But really how much more complicated is a $2000 hearing aid than a Bluetooth earpiece?
I think the pricing has much more to do with lack of access on the part of the consumer to a free open market for same. Everyone is funneled through the audiology offices.
There was apparently some interpretation of a federal statute by FDA making hearing aids prescription devices. This apparently was a misreading of statute and the market is now opening up. Once this occurs we should be able to obtain hearing aids for prices similar to the more complicated Bluetooth devices, and maybe get more features too. Wouldn't it be nice if one could remotely control hearing aids; add GPS or item loss-prevention; replace them for tens of dollars rather than thousands?
Remember when contact lenses cost hundreds of dollars per pair? That market has totally turned inside out. We need to open up the market for hearing aids. I'm somewhat surprised that organizations supposedly advocating for the elderly, e.g. AARP, have not been more proactive in this area. The AARP wants its members to have hearing aids, promotes the benefits of hearing aids, but does not appear to have done very much to open the market. They have tried to promote a tax credit for hearing aids, but this only transfers the cost, the high cost, of hearing aids to other taxpayers effectively.
It would seem to me that the highest benefit from the current approach accrues to audiologists. Similar situations obtained previously vis-à-vis contact lenses for ophthalmologists, orthotic shoes for podiatrists, reading and other eyeglasses for optometrists, teeth whitening fittings for dentists, antisnoring mouthpieces for ENT's or dentists.
We have to flip this model inside out so that the greatest benefits accrue to those with the problem: in this case hearing loss. I have so many patients with hearing loss who can't afford to go the hearing aid route. When they can purchase these items freely, try them on, and choose openly between brands, prices will drop. The free-market rules!
See Doctor Randall Bock's blog here:
http://doctoringtheevidence.blogspot.com/2010/07/hearing-aids-versus-reading-glasses.html
Guest Post from Doctor Randall Bock M.D.
Hearing aids cost thousands of dollars. In my early dotage ;-) currently 53 years old, I recently found imperfection in my near-vision (as we all do, over time). Probably I was laboring for a year or so before caving in: purchasing reading glasses. I am using them right now and they have made all the difference.
In the space of a few months, this year, I went from no reading glasses to seven pairs. I bought all seven online together as a package recently, for the grand sum of $10.00. That comes out to less than $1.50 per pair. As a result I keep one set by my bedside, one in the kitchen, one at my office, one in the car etc.; always at hand.
Not so long ago, reading glasses would have been "fitted" by an optometrist much like prescription glasses would have cost potentially hundreds of dollars each pair, but the wisdom of the market prevailed, under the implicit acknowledgment that the vast majority of cases of people needing reading glasses doesn't require prescription-fitting. Pretty much everybody gets nearsighted in the same manner, albeit differing in gradation; so it's just a matter of finding the right amount of correction in purchasing the new reading glasses. You can try one pair and then another until you are comfortable. There's the possibility that one eye's visual correction need is different from the other 's, and for those people optometrist consultation might be in order; however for nearly everybody else, off the shelf reading glass purchases are adequate, after trying different diopter-gradations of the eyeglasses.
Age-related diminishment in near-visual acuity is a result of change in the shape of the eyeball, essentially the drying out of the intraocular gel. This is nearly uniform although some of us get it earlier than others. Because the problem is pretty much the same for everybody, although differing slightly in degree, the solution is nearly the same for everybody. As a result , there is a great economy of scale, and eyeglass-fitting for hundreds of millions if not billions of people just a matter of choosing a correction-level and finding a nice style, really no harder than buying a pair of gloves and probably easier than buying a pair of shoes.
Along the same lines of losing our near vision gradually, pretty much much we all lose our hearing, or more harshly said "go deaf" in the same manner as each other (with aging that is).
If we can fit gloves, reading glasses, or shoes so easily: usually for relatively little indentation into our pocketbooks, why then do hearing aids cost thousands of dollars? I recently bought a replacement Bluetooth earpiece, and it cost me all of $20. This Bluetooth coordinates with a variety of telephones and computer and other devices. It is tiny and extremely complicated. It has volume adjustments, battery-saving mode and probably a bunch of other features that I have not figured out yet.
Why is this purchasing paradigm so different from that of hearing aids'? I know that a hearing aid has to augment sound yet not overdo it in case a loud sound occurs whereupon the hearing aid 's amplification could damage the eardrum. But really how much more complicated is a $2000 hearing aid than a Bluetooth earpiece?
I think the pricing has much more to do with lack of access on the part of the consumer to a free open market for same. Everyone is funneled through the audiology offices.
There was apparently some interpretation of a federal statute by FDA making hearing aids prescription devices. This apparently was a misreading of statute and the market is now opening up. Once this occurs we should be able to obtain hearing aids for prices similar to the more complicated Bluetooth devices, and maybe get more features too. Wouldn't it be nice if one could remotely control hearing aids; add GPS or item loss-prevention; replace them for tens of dollars rather than thousands?
Remember when contact lenses cost hundreds of dollars per pair? That market has totally turned inside out. We need to open up the market for hearing aids. I'm somewhat surprised that organizations supposedly advocating for the elderly, e.g. AARP, have not been more proactive in this area. The AARP wants its members to have hearing aids, promotes the benefits of hearing aids, but does not appear to have done very much to open the market. They have tried to promote a tax credit for hearing aids, but this only transfers the cost, the high cost, of hearing aids to other taxpayers effectively.
It would seem to me that the highest benefit from the current approach accrues to audiologists. Similar situations obtained previously vis-à-vis contact lenses for ophthalmologists, orthotic shoes for podiatrists, reading and other eyeglasses for optometrists, teeth whitening fittings for dentists, antisnoring mouthpieces for ENT's or dentists.
We have to flip this model inside out so that the greatest benefits accrue to those with the problem: in this case hearing loss. I have so many patients with hearing loss who can't afford to go the hearing aid route. When they can purchase these items freely, try them on, and choose openly between brands, prices will drop. The free-market rules!
See Doctor Randall Bock's blog here:
http://doctoringtheevidence.blogspot.com/2010/07/hearing-aids-versus-reading-glasses.html
Monday, June 21, 2010
Age Related Hearing Loss – Why is this Happening?
Age related hearing loss is when your hearing decreases as people get older. It is also known as presbycusis.
There are tiny hairs inside your ear. These hairs help process sound to your brain. Hearing loss occurs when these tiny hairs inside your ear are damaged or die.
There is not a single cause for age related hearing loss. The phenomenon mostly happens when the aging process causes changes to the inner ear as it grows. Other factors can also play a role, like a lifetime of loud music, machine noise, or even genes.
Age related hearing loss most commonly effects the high frequency range. This can make it difficult to have conversations in places that have loud background noise, like a crowded restaurant. Other symptoms include ringing in the ears, difficulty hearing women speak, and the sense that people are always mumbling when they speak to you.
Age related hearing loss is permanent and you will never regain your hearing. Hearing aids can help the situation a great deal.
There are tiny hairs inside your ear. These hairs help process sound to your brain. Hearing loss occurs when these tiny hairs inside your ear are damaged or die.
There is not a single cause for age related hearing loss. The phenomenon mostly happens when the aging process causes changes to the inner ear as it grows. Other factors can also play a role, like a lifetime of loud music, machine noise, or even genes.
Age related hearing loss most commonly effects the high frequency range. This can make it difficult to have conversations in places that have loud background noise, like a crowded restaurant. Other symptoms include ringing in the ears, difficulty hearing women speak, and the sense that people are always mumbling when they speak to you.
Age related hearing loss is permanent and you will never regain your hearing. Hearing aids can help the situation a great deal.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
As Seen on TV Hearing Aids – the real story
You may have seen the infomercials on TV touting that once you put on one of these bluetooth looking contraptions, you can “hear somebody whispering from across the room”. They claim that you will be hearing the birds again and listening to television at a low volume. All this and more for under $20! Don’t be fooled by these claims.
These ads are not for hearing aids. They are for “amplifiers” and cheap ones at that. The difference between a hearing aid and an amplifier is that an amplifier amplifies all sound, while a hearing aid will amplify only certain ranges of sound.
The most common form of hearing loss is high frequency hearing loss, also known as age related hearing loss. This type of loss effects the high ranges of sound. If you fall into this category then you probably have problems understanding speech in the presence of background noise. Imagine being in a crowded restaurant with loud background sounds. If you suffer from high frequency hearing loss then you are probably having a hard time carrying on a conversation at your table because of the background interference. Now imagine putting on one of those amplifiers sold on TV. Sure, the conversation got louder, but so did the background noise!
Open fit hearing aids were introduced a few years back to help people that suffer from high frequency hearing loss. The vented “open ear” design allows ambient sounds to pass through your ear canal, while simultaneously giving you a boost of high frequency sounds. The idea is to allow you to hear the sounds that you don’t have a problem with naturally, while amplifying the sounds that you are having trouble with, resulting in balanced hearing. Our most popular open fit hearing aid is the Rosebud Digital Open Fit. It is currently on sale for just $299.
Oh an by the way, unlike what those TV ads say, a hearing instrument isn’t supposed to give you super human hearing powers so you can listen to whispering across the room. They are supposed to correct your hearing deficiencies, resulting in as normal hearing as can be obtained. Be smart and stay away from those As Seen On TV amplifiers!
As always, discuss your hearing problems with your physician and save a small fortune by buying your hearing aids online.
These ads are not for hearing aids. They are for “amplifiers” and cheap ones at that. The difference between a hearing aid and an amplifier is that an amplifier amplifies all sound, while a hearing aid will amplify only certain ranges of sound.
The most common form of hearing loss is high frequency hearing loss, also known as age related hearing loss. This type of loss effects the high ranges of sound. If you fall into this category then you probably have problems understanding speech in the presence of background noise. Imagine being in a crowded restaurant with loud background sounds. If you suffer from high frequency hearing loss then you are probably having a hard time carrying on a conversation at your table because of the background interference. Now imagine putting on one of those amplifiers sold on TV. Sure, the conversation got louder, but so did the background noise!
Open fit hearing aids were introduced a few years back to help people that suffer from high frequency hearing loss. The vented “open ear” design allows ambient sounds to pass through your ear canal, while simultaneously giving you a boost of high frequency sounds. The idea is to allow you to hear the sounds that you don’t have a problem with naturally, while amplifying the sounds that you are having trouble with, resulting in balanced hearing. Our most popular open fit hearing aid is the Rosebud Digital Open Fit. It is currently on sale for just $299.
Oh an by the way, unlike what those TV ads say, a hearing instrument isn’t supposed to give you super human hearing powers so you can listen to whispering across the room. They are supposed to correct your hearing deficiencies, resulting in as normal hearing as can be obtained. Be smart and stay away from those As Seen On TV amplifiers!
As always, discuss your hearing problems with your physician and save a small fortune by buying your hearing aids online.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
What is High Frequency Hearing Loss?
High frequency hearing loss, often referred to as “age related” hearing loss, is the most common form of hearing loss. It’s symptoms include:
* not understanding speech in the presence of background noise
* hearing the words, but not always understanding what people are saying
* understanding men’s voices more easily than women and children’s voices
* ringing in the ears
Hearing aids can be a great help for those suffering from high frequency hearing loss. The most common type of hearing aid for this problem is the Open Fit hearing aid. Open fit hearing aids can hone in and amplify the high frequencies that you are missing while filtering out the low sounds that you don’t have trouble with. The open ear style of these aids allow air and ambient sound to pass freely through your ear canal, so you are hearing the sounds that you don’t have trouble with naturally, while getting a boost for the sounds that you cannot hear naturally.
The loose fit and ventilation of the open fit ear piece makes it a very comfortable solution. You won’t get a plugged up feeling or suffer from occlusion like you would from a hearing aid that seals your ear canal (occlusion is an effect that makes your own voice sound like you are talking in a barrel).
Many people that go to a hearing aid clinic are told that they have “typical” high frequency hearing loss, but need “custom” $3,000 hearing aids. This doesn’t sit well with most. This is why Rosebud Hearing came up with an affordable Open Fit Hearing Aid that is specifically designed for those suffering from typical hearing loss. The Rosebud Open Fit hones in on the human voice range and above and amplifies those sounds, while allowing your ear to naturally hear the sounds that you are not missing.
The Rosebud Open Fit is a digital aid that has a manufacturers suggested retail price of around $700. For a limited time, the Rosebud Open Fit Digital Hearing Aid is available in our store for just $299. The aid comes with a 60 day in home trial period, so if it is not doing all that it promises to do, you can return it for a refund.
We started selling the Rosebud Open Fit Digital Hearing Aid at the end of 2008 and it has quickly become our best selling hearing aid. In fact, we have stopped selling a lot of the more expensive brands and replaced them with this aid because our customers have a much higher success rate with the Rosebud than they did with the other more expensive name brands.
As always, discuss your hearing problems with your physician and save a fortune by buying your hearing aids online.
* not understanding speech in the presence of background noise
* hearing the words, but not always understanding what people are saying
* understanding men’s voices more easily than women and children’s voices
* ringing in the ears
Hearing aids can be a great help for those suffering from high frequency hearing loss. The most common type of hearing aid for this problem is the Open Fit hearing aid. Open fit hearing aids can hone in and amplify the high frequencies that you are missing while filtering out the low sounds that you don’t have trouble with. The open ear style of these aids allow air and ambient sound to pass freely through your ear canal, so you are hearing the sounds that you don’t have trouble with naturally, while getting a boost for the sounds that you cannot hear naturally.
The loose fit and ventilation of the open fit ear piece makes it a very comfortable solution. You won’t get a plugged up feeling or suffer from occlusion like you would from a hearing aid that seals your ear canal (occlusion is an effect that makes your own voice sound like you are talking in a barrel).
Many people that go to a hearing aid clinic are told that they have “typical” high frequency hearing loss, but need “custom” $3,000 hearing aids. This doesn’t sit well with most. This is why Rosebud Hearing came up with an affordable Open Fit Hearing Aid that is specifically designed for those suffering from typical hearing loss. The Rosebud Open Fit hones in on the human voice range and above and amplifies those sounds, while allowing your ear to naturally hear the sounds that you are not missing.
The Rosebud Open Fit is a digital aid that has a manufacturers suggested retail price of around $700. For a limited time, the Rosebud Open Fit Digital Hearing Aid is available in our store for just $299. The aid comes with a 60 day in home trial period, so if it is not doing all that it promises to do, you can return it for a refund.
We started selling the Rosebud Open Fit Digital Hearing Aid at the end of 2008 and it has quickly become our best selling hearing aid. In fact, we have stopped selling a lot of the more expensive brands and replaced them with this aid because our customers have a much higher success rate with the Rosebud than they did with the other more expensive name brands.
As always, discuss your hearing problems with your physician and save a fortune by buying your hearing aids online.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Are You Being Profiled When Buying Hearing Aids?
A few months ago, a customer of ours told me that he went to a hearing aid clinic for an audiogram. We’ll call him “Bill”. Bill was asked to fill out a new patient questionnaire. At first he didn’t think much of the questions. They included the typical name, address, and contact information. Then he got to the question about what kind of car he drove. It struck him as a little strange, but he answered the question and wrote in that he drove a 2008 Cadillac.
After taking the hearing test, he was consulted about the results. The audiologist told him that he had high frequency hearing loss. He said that there were a number of hearing aids on the market that would help his situation a little bit, but there was only one model that would do the job right. He claimed that it was “the Cadillac of hearing aids”. This model also had a price tag of over $3,000 each.
Bill is a pretty sharp guy and he immediately thought back to the new patient form that he had filled out a few minutes earlier. At that point, Bill picked up his things and headed for the door, but before leaving, he asked the doc, “What if I had told you that I drove a Volvo?”
Patient profiling has been a hot topic in the news as of late. It is when physicians make a determination on what the patient can afford and then recommend treatment accordingly. Was Bill a victim of patient profiling? There is no way to be sure, but it certainly appears that way.
Another one of our customers recently told me about his experiences with a hearing aid clinic. He went in for a hearing exam and was diagnosed with high frequency hearing loss. The technician gave him a proposal for a pair of programmable hearing aids that came to around $2,800. He went home and started searching the Internet for the same hearing aids. He found them at our online store for a fraction of the price that he was quoted earlier that day. When I spoke to him, I told him that we could program the aids to the specifications of his hearing test. The next day he went to the clinic and asked them if he could have a copy of his audiogram. Suspecting that he may have found the aids cheaper somewhere else, the audiologist immediately said that he would take $1,000 off the price if he bought them from him. Each time that our customer said he did not want to buy the aids from the clinic, the audiologist cut down the price by a few hundred dollars. Eventually, the doc gave our client his audiogram and he bought the aids from us.
Make no mistake about it, hearing aid clinics exist for one reason and one reason only, to sell you hearing aids. The more expensive the aids, the more money the clinic makes. A typical markup on hearing aids at a clinic is well over 300% over the wholesale cost. Your average retail store only marks up the price of goods by 45%. I’m not telling you to avoid having your hearing checked by a physician, I’m simply telling you that you have options when it comes down to the actual buying of hearing aids.
We offer a variety of hearing loss solutions in our online store. Over the past two years we have saved our clients countless amounts of money. Our most popular solution is the Rosebud Digital Open Fit Hearing Aid. the Rosebud Open Fit is for folks with typical high frequency hearing loss. Symptoms include not understanding speech clearly, having trouble hearing what people are saying in the presence of background noise, understanding men better than women or children, and sometimes a ringing in the ear.
The Rosebud Open Fit allows the sounds that you don’t have trouble with to pass through your ear naturally, while at the same time giving you needed amplification of the sounds that you do need help with. The results can be life changing. You can try this aid for 60 days and if you are unhappy with the results, you can return it for a refund.
Of course, you can always choose to pay thousands for a similar aid at a clinic too
As always, discuss your hearing problems with your physician and save a fortune by buying your hearing aids online.
After taking the hearing test, he was consulted about the results. The audiologist told him that he had high frequency hearing loss. He said that there were a number of hearing aids on the market that would help his situation a little bit, but there was only one model that would do the job right. He claimed that it was “the Cadillac of hearing aids”. This model also had a price tag of over $3,000 each.
Bill is a pretty sharp guy and he immediately thought back to the new patient form that he had filled out a few minutes earlier. At that point, Bill picked up his things and headed for the door, but before leaving, he asked the doc, “What if I had told you that I drove a Volvo?”
Patient profiling has been a hot topic in the news as of late. It is when physicians make a determination on what the patient can afford and then recommend treatment accordingly. Was Bill a victim of patient profiling? There is no way to be sure, but it certainly appears that way.
Another one of our customers recently told me about his experiences with a hearing aid clinic. He went in for a hearing exam and was diagnosed with high frequency hearing loss. The technician gave him a proposal for a pair of programmable hearing aids that came to around $2,800. He went home and started searching the Internet for the same hearing aids. He found them at our online store for a fraction of the price that he was quoted earlier that day. When I spoke to him, I told him that we could program the aids to the specifications of his hearing test. The next day he went to the clinic and asked them if he could have a copy of his audiogram. Suspecting that he may have found the aids cheaper somewhere else, the audiologist immediately said that he would take $1,000 off the price if he bought them from him. Each time that our customer said he did not want to buy the aids from the clinic, the audiologist cut down the price by a few hundred dollars. Eventually, the doc gave our client his audiogram and he bought the aids from us.
Make no mistake about it, hearing aid clinics exist for one reason and one reason only, to sell you hearing aids. The more expensive the aids, the more money the clinic makes. A typical markup on hearing aids at a clinic is well over 300% over the wholesale cost. Your average retail store only marks up the price of goods by 45%. I’m not telling you to avoid having your hearing checked by a physician, I’m simply telling you that you have options when it comes down to the actual buying of hearing aids.
We offer a variety of hearing loss solutions in our online store. Over the past two years we have saved our clients countless amounts of money. Our most popular solution is the Rosebud Digital Open Fit Hearing Aid. the Rosebud Open Fit is for folks with typical high frequency hearing loss. Symptoms include not understanding speech clearly, having trouble hearing what people are saying in the presence of background noise, understanding men better than women or children, and sometimes a ringing in the ear.
The Rosebud Open Fit allows the sounds that you don’t have trouble with to pass through your ear naturally, while at the same time giving you needed amplification of the sounds that you do need help with. The results can be life changing. You can try this aid for 60 days and if you are unhappy with the results, you can return it for a refund.
Of course, you can always choose to pay thousands for a similar aid at a clinic too
As always, discuss your hearing problems with your physician and save a fortune by buying your hearing aids online.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)