With the 116th Congress already over a quarter under way, the Government Relations Committee (GRC) urges Academy members to get involved. It is an exciting time for audiology, with the Academy actively working and collaborating with other organizations on new policy initiatives. The audiology voice in numbers is critical for the profession in advancing these initiatives.
Topic(s): Advocacy, Patient care, Hearing, Hearing Aids, Hearing Loss, Healthcare, Medicare Audiologist Access and Services Act, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Medicare, Balance/Vestibular, Adult
Cochlear implants are auditory sensory devices designed to provide auditory perception for individuals with significant hearing loss. A majority of individuals who use a cochlear implant have the ability to understand speech in quiet and complex listening environments, and children who were born with hearing loss are now able to develop excellent auditory and spoken language skills with the device.
Topic(s): Practice Management, Patient care, Cochlear Implants (CI), Hearing Assistive Technologies (HAT)
Billing modifiers were created to provide additional information to the payer about the performed procedure(s) and help describe and/or qualify the services provided. There are common modifiers used by commercial payers and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), that indicate to the payer that the services provided have been altered in a way that is different than the ascribed definition of the billing code. For example, a modifier should be used when all of the tests in a bundled code were not performed or when only one ear was tested.
Topic(s): Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Medicare, Advance Beneficiary Notice (ABN), CPT - Current Procedural Terminology, Coding, Reimbursement, Practice Management, Patient care, Treatment
Hearing aid processing no longer operates under the assumption that the real-world listening environments are represented by simple laboratory test conditions, such as the talker of interest is in front with noise behind, or even that there is only a single talker of interest. In addition, the driving philosophy has shifted from treating a single complaint (e.g., understanding in noise) to holistically treating individuals across the full range of their real environments and experiences (e.g., connecting to an auditory world).
Topic(s): Amplification, Research, Hearing, Hearing Assistive Technologies (HAT), Hearing Aids, Hearing Health Care, Patient care, Treatment
Public health agencies, in conjunction with Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) programs, monitor the results of newborn screening outcomes, newborns with risk factors for the late onset of hearing loss, the prevalence of confirmed hearing loss, the type and degree of these losses, and the number of babies enrolled in services. A public health system is the best way for all of the parties providing hearing care to a child to have access to the results of the provided care.
Topic(s): Pediatric, Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI), Patient care, Treatment, Hearing
A culture of quality is needed if we are to bring audiology into the spotlight and highlight our expertise in hearing and balance. Ritz-Carlton co-founder and former president Horst Schulze states that we can create transactions every day, but until we place the person next to us as the most important person in the world in that moment, we will never create an experience.
Topic(s): Professional, Patient care, Public Awareness, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Coding, Reimbursement, Practice Management, Hearing Assistive Technologies (HAT), Balance/Vestibular, Hearing Aids, Hearing Health Care
