The Problem
Most audiologists probably have encountered a patient who produces within- or among-test discrepancies in audiometric results that have no medical explanation. This phenomenon goes under a multiplicity of terms. In addition to pseudohypacusis, nonorganic hearing loss, and functional hearing loss, there are malingering, dis/simulating, faking, feigning, conversion, hysterical, psychogenic, and more.
Topic(s): false and exaggerated hearing loss (FEHL), Hearing Loss, Psychology, Audiogram, speech-in-noise, dysphonia, spastic dysphonia, spasmodic dysphonia
Hearing-care professionals (HCPs) and hearing aid wearers report the chief complaint secondary to hearing loss and to wearing traditional hearing aids, is the inability to understand speech-in-noise (SIN; see Beck et al, 2019). Beck et al (2018) reported that, in addition to the 37 million Americans with audiometric hearing loss, 26 million have hearing difficulty and/or difficulty understanding SIN, despite clinically normal thresholds. As such, helping people hear (i.e., to perceive sound) and helping people listen (i.e., to comprehend, or apply meaning to sound) remains paramount.
Topic(s): speech-in-noise, Hearing, Hearing Loss, Sensorineural Hearing Loss, Noise Reduction, Audiometric Test
There are Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes for almost every audiology procedure that exists. It is important to use the code that most accurately represents the audiologic procedure or service provided, which is often very straightforward.
Topic(s): Audiologist, Bone-Anchored Hearing Devices (BHADs), Bone-Conduction Implant (BCI), cervical vestibular-evoked myogenic potential (cVEMP), speech-in-noise, Tinnitus, saccade, Practice Management, Coding, Reimbursement, Compliance, CPT - Current Procedural Terminology
