Cochlear Implants (CI)

Exposure to Spoken Communication in Children with Cochlear Implants During the COVID-19 Lockdown

The lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have led to many potential negative effects on children. There are many concerns about what it means for socialization, education, nutrition, and how children who need additional resources in school will fare.

NASEM Releases Report on Evaluating Hearing Loss in People with Cochlear Implants

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) has released the report Evaluating Hearing Loss for Individuals with Cochlear Implants.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) requested that NASEM study and recommend generalized testing procedures and criteria for evaluating the level of functional hearing ability needed to make a disability determination in adults and children after cochlear implantation.

A New Hope for Patients with Severe Bilateral Vestibular Hypofunction

Imagine seeing life through a handheld video camera. When you are still everything seems fine; but as soon as you start to move, the picture is far from perfect. Even a small step creates a jostling of the screen, leading to blurry, jumpy vision. This is how people with severe bilateral vestibular hypofunction (BVH) see the world due to a complete lack of neural input from either ear. But there is hope!

Deaf Firefighter Perseveres with Dedication Amid 2020 Challenges

By Jannine Larky

Hearing Devices and Fatigue

We know it can be exhausting to keep up to date on all of the pertinent research literature in our field. Luckily, Holman, et al (2021) recently published a nice review of the literature related to hearing loss and hearing device use as it relates to fatigue.

We previously shared with you their findings related to hearing loss and fatigue, now let us see what these authors found in regards to the fitting of a hearing device.

ONLINE FEATURE | Deaf Firefighter Perseveres with Dedication Amid 2020 Challenges

The year 2020 has been unlike any other. California’s fire season, spanning from August to November, now logs 8,834 fire incidents, 31 fatalities, the loss of 10,488 structures, and an estimated 4,149,345 acres burned—an area larger than the state of Connecticut (CA.gov, 2020 and Wigglesworth, 2020).

Topic(s): Cochlear Implants (CI), audiology, Hearing Aids, Deaf, Hearing Loss, Hearing Conservation, Occupational Hearing Loss

Author(s):

Jannine Larky

Publication Issue: Audiology Today January/February 2021

Experiences of Patients with Hearing Loss and a Comorbid Psychiatric Diagnosis

Are you curious about the experience of hearing loss and auditory rehabilitation for your older adult patients who have a current psychiatric diagnosis? If so, you may want to read a recently published qualitative study by Emma Laird and colleagues (2020).

Use of Diagnostics and Intervention in Children with SNHL

As audiologists, we know that early detection and intervention for permanent, sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) is critical for language development, academic achievement, and social and emotional well-being.

The authors of this study investigated 53,711 children with hearing loss and a mean age of 7 years 3 months. The children were both male and female, Asian, Black, Hispanic, and White.

CMS Issues Final 2021 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System Rule

Tables 1-6 see below for APC assignments, status indicators, and reimbursement amounts for audiology codes. An “S” status indicator denotes a “Separate APC Payment” where regardless of services performed on the same date of service, the CPT code is paid at the APC rate.

An Overview of Hearing Loss in Children

In a recent review published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Lieu and colleagues (2020) provide an excellent overview of hearing loss in children that would be highly beneficial for students, parents, and any professional working with pediatric patients with hearing loss.

The article provides a detailed overview of the epidemiology, etiology, and consequences of childhood hearing loss as well as assessment and management options.