Medical Device Helps Audiologists Improve Hearing Aid Performance, Increase Patient Satisfaction

RALEIGH, N.C., Sept. 18, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- An audiologist at the practice, Now Hear This is the first in the US to use a device that greatly improves the performance of hearing aids, an important wide-spread need of 38 million people in the US. In the past, audiologists could only guess at how to set hearing aids.Now with this new device, the ACAM 5®, audiologists can understand all the dynamics of a person's hearing and improve it with a more finely tuned hearing aid. This could have critical implications for recently identified serious health issues that affect the hearing impaired.

How ACAM 5® Technology Helps Audiologist & Patients

Originally intended as a product sold only to hearing researchers and manufacturers, the ACAM 5® is quickly being noted as a tool for audiology practices as well, because it includes a number of advanced testing tools and technologies all in one system. "We have found that a surprisingly large segment of the population believe hearing aids don't perform well and resist getting them for fear they will make them look old or are too expensive" said Dr. Robert Keefer, CEO of Acousticon - USA. "This is important to understand because a reluctancy to address hearing issues as soon as possible may have implications for other critical health issues." Recent studies at Johns Hopkins showed that patients with hearing loss have up to 5 times the risk of Alzheimer's and dementia.
 
The revolutionary technology in the ACAM® system is helping Dr. Philip Griffin, Au.D of Now Hear This identify the severity of the hearing loss, measure how hearing aids can compensate for the loss and fit the hearing aids in a unique way.The ACAM® accurately pinpoints the exact responses of each individual patient to different volume levels and pitches. This allows audiologists to better understand how a patient's brain perceives loudness across the entire range of hearing. 


In 2011, the ACAM 5® recieved FDA approval and was introduced to the US market under the Acousticon name. Acousticon then teamed up with Dr. Griffin, a UNC-trained audiologist, to treat hearing loss in patients using the ACAM 5®. Together they opened the Raleigh audiology practice, Now Hear This, the first and only practice in the US to currently use the device with patients.


The clinic immediately found that many who contacted them already had hearing aids, and hoped that Now Hear This and its device could solve their problems.  Not only have they experienced better results, but after learning about the clinic patients have traveled from as far as 2,000 miles to utilize this advanced technology. "We have found that one reason so many are unhappy is because a test called Real Ear Measurement (administered by the ACAM® system) has not been performed on most patients. Most providers haven't had access to the technologies that the ACAM system provides," said Dr. Keefer.  "A large number of patients are reaching out to us because they're trying to find a solution to improve their hearing aid's performance and the ACAM offers that solution."   

Medical  Needs Addressed by the ACAM 5®  

Now Hear This and Acousticon have entered a national health care market where there is a lot of long-standing skepticism about hearing aids and the hearing profession. A main reason for the skepticism is based on a lack of proper fitting techniques performed by hearing aid providers across the country.  An article in Consumer Reports, (July 2009) identified that it isn't the hearing aids- it's the hearing aid fitting that is the problem.  The study found that two-thirds of patients who purchase hearing aids were not fitted properly by the hearing aid provider, resulting in the aids being amplified too little or too much.


Audiologists in Europe have found that the ACAM® system improves patient satisfaction with their hearing aids by as much as 80% over traditional methods used by audiologists without the ACAM® system. Data for the US market is still being developed as the ACAM® is still new to the US, but experts hope that those numbers will prove to be true for the United States.  Some have called systems like ACAM® the "future of hearing".  "The ACAM system has been successfully treating patients in Europe for over 25 years and with the introduction to the US market we expect to see similar results here," said Dr. Keefer.  "The fact that it has already made such a difference in our patients' lives is truly a blessing for them and for us."


Because the ACAM 5® system is so unique and brings the latest technologies to the market, patients and a few leading researchers have embraced this system with open arms. Eddie McDonald of Bridgeport, TX is one of the many new patients who came to Now Hear This in search of a better option. After visiting the practice and being treated with the ACAM 5® system McDonald has seen a dramatic improvement in his hearing aids. "I hear better than I ever have before with a hearing aid," said McDonald. "You hear more detail. You hear more sounds. You can enjoy a little bit more of life and understand a little bit more in business."

For more information about Now Hear This, the individual fitting systems and the ACAM 5®; visit www.NowHearThisClinic.com ;or contact Peter Dawyot at The Publicus Community -Peter@PublicusCo.com or by phone at 919.885.4299.  

The Publicus Community

Peter Dawyot 
Director of Communications
Phone: 919.885.4299
Email: Peter@PublicusCo.com
Web: PublicusCo.com 

The Publicus Community is a full service public relations and advertising agency located in the heart of the Research Triangle in North Carolina. We are dedicated to helping health care providers build better brands.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://www.cisionwire.com
http://www.cisionwire.com/the-publicus-community/r/medical-device-helps-audiologists-improve-hearing-aid-performance--increase-patient-satisfaction,c9306147

The following files are available for download: