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Why New OTC Hearing Aid Regulations Make Remote Audiology Jobs More Necessary Than Ever

In 2022, the FDA published new guidelines that allow hearing aid manufacturers—like MDHearing—to sell FDA-registered, over-the-counter hearing aids directly to consumers without the need for a traditional, in-person hearing evaluation or device fitting. This opened the door for everyday consumers to treat their hearing loss for dramatically less money.

OTC hearing aid firms can dramatically reduce the cost of hearing aids by manufacturing their own devices and selling them directly to consumers. However, this doesn’t eliminate the need for audiologists and hearing instrument specialists. In fact, it makes them more important than ever. 

Just like the patients of in-person clinics, OTC hearing aid customers can benefit from audiological guidance when selecting, fitting, adjusting, and optimizing their hearing aids. With assistance from a remote licensed audiologist or hearing instrument specialist, patients can maximize the benefits and proper use of their hearing aids. Furthermore, audiologists can recommend patients visit a doctor for further tests when the need arises, or if they spot the signs of a more serious underlying condition.  

Here’s how MDHearing CEO, Doug Breaker, describes the important role that remote audiologists and hearing instrument specialists play at MDHearing: 

We always like to onboard new customers with a licensed hearing care professional and establish that as the normal procedure. This allows the patient to get the best performance from their hearing aids and ultimately delivers the best customer satisfaction. About half of our customers use our video call interface, while the other half prefer to do it by phone. We’re huge believers that everyone deserves the amazing care licensed hearing professionals provide. That’s why we offer free lifetime support, hire experienced audiologists and hearing instrument specialists, and encourage every customer to reach out with any issue or concern. We strive to provide the best in remote audiology care because we want all of our customers to enjoy life to the fullest. ”

As for what it’s like connecting with patients in the remote hearing healthcare role, MDHearing audiologist and former professor of audiology, Nikki Hacker, Au.D., Ph.D., said:

In this role, you build relationships. Once patients get to know you, they’ll ask to talk with you the next time.”

Dr. Hacker also added: 

Remote hearing healthcare is an emerging specialty within the hearing healthcare field, so MDHearing team members are pioneers in new ways of working with and connecting with hearing loss patients from a distance.”

With more and more hearing aid manufacturers selling directly to consumers, there are more opportunities than ever for remote hearing healthcare professionals to share their expertise from a distance. If you share MDHearing’s passion for accessible healthcare and innovative solutions, we invite you to explore career opportunities with us.

Our Recipe for Hearing Clinic-Quality Care Without the Clinic

At MDHearing, our primary mission is to remove the financial barriers that prevent people from receiving high-quality hearing care. By cutting out the tremendous cost of maintaining brick-and-mortar hearing clinics, we save our customers thousands of dollars off the end cost of their hearing aids. 

Combined with our team of remote hearing healthcare professionals and remote hearing care system, our clients benefit from high-quality hearing aids and hearing treatment on par with what they would receive at a clinic.

Our remote hearing care mission uses several core ingredients to deliver quality hearing care to patients at their homes. Our remote hearing healthcare professionals are central to this mission: 

• Email, phone, and video care from remote audiologists: MDHearing offers email, phone, and video calls with licensed hearing specialists and audiologists for a more personalized telecare experience.

• Free online hearing tests and analysis of audiograms by audiologists: Our online hearing test generates an air conduction audiogram that provides MDHearing audiologists with valuable diagnostic data. This isn't a comprehensive audiogram but it allows our audiologists to either advise patients on which MDHearing product is the best match for them or to recommend further in-person testing at a doctor's office.

• App-based "hearing check" and automatic programming: The MDHearing App (compatible with the smart VOLT MAX model) checks patients’ hearing by having them provide feedback while listening to different tones. It then creates a unique "Personalization Profile" for their hearing loss level and automatically programs the hearing aid accordingly. 

• Remote fine-tuning assistance: The MDHearing App also lets VOLT MAX patients request remote assistance from MDHearing's specialists, who adjust the hearing settings via the Internet.

• Custom adjustments based on a professional audiogram: Using the MDHearing App, MDHearing VOLT MAX customers can send their professional audiogram results to MDHearing audiologists for remote adjustments similar to those done at hearing clinics. The difference is that these settings adjustments happen over the internet.

The Benefits of Being an MDHearing Remote Hearing Healthcare Professional

At MDHearing, we believe in empowering both our customers and our team members to break away from traditional settings—in ways that benefit both their finances and quality of life. On the customer side, we do this by providing much-needed hearing care while removing unnecessary costs.

On the team member side, the remote hearing healthcare professionals at MDHearing enjoy the following benefits and advantages:

• Work from home/anywhere: Enjoy the shortest commute in the world because you don’t need to leave home to fulfill your work responsibilities. In fact, you can take your work with you when traveling or moving anywhere within the U.S.

• Affordable hearing solutions: Feel the satisfaction of offering affordable, high-quality hearing aid options that provide the miracle and joys of hearing to Americans who couldn’t normally afford them.

• Help more people: With entry-level hearing aids starting at just $297 a pair, MDHearing allows you to help more people—especially those who can’t pay the average of $4,600 a pair for hearing aids.

• Cutting-edge telemedicine: Be among the first to explore the evolving field of remote audiology. Provide consultations via HIPAA-compliant video chats, adjust hearing aids remotely, and conduct hearing test consultations. 

• Valued input: At MDHearing, we value the input of our entire audiology team and we implement their suggestions—which we consider to be a core element of our success. We encourage a collaborative and enriching work environment.

• Competitive pay and benefits: MDHearing believes in providing a competitive salary and benefits structure that matches most in-person clinics. With additional opportunities to boost your earnings into the six-figure range as a top performer, we want our audiology team to enjoy the financial benefits of going remote.

• Other benefits: Our remote hearing healthcare professionals also enjoy health, dental, and vision insurance; 401K retirement savings plan; generous paid time off and holidays; and deep employee discounts on MDHearing products.

If you’d like to know which roles are currently open at MDHearing, please visit our open positions page or click here to apply. Also, please feel free to contact our HR team at any time (careers@MDHearing.com). 

What Hearing Healthcare Professionals Say About Working With MDHearing

Our hand-picked group of highly experienced remote audiology professionals are a closely-knitted team, and they are an absolutely critical part of MDHearing’s success. 

If you’re considering a remote audiology career, we hope you’ll read through the following testimonials from our remote audiology team. These could be your future teammates!

Experienced Hearing Instrument Specialist Makes a Bigger Impact

“After working 6+ years at a local office, I realized that I wanted to make a bigger impact within the hearing field. MDHearing has allowed me to do so by helping hundreds of customers with their hearing nationwide. We are even able to provide hearing help to remote spots around the country. It’s truly humbling when you are able to provide support to a customer, whether that’s via a phone call or video call.” 

– Javi Hopper, Licensed Hearing Instrument Specialist

Versed Hearing Instrument Specialist Switches to Remote and Loves Her Job

"I have worked in a clinic for many years. I have worked for a company that did not appreciate their employees and most days it just felt like punching a clock. MDHearing has changed all of that for me. I love my job! I love working for people who care about their employees and push us to be the best we can be. I feel like the OTC option for hearing aids has opened up many doors for customers to be able to afford hearing aids. I love being able to help people hear. Most of all, I like being able to offer our customers great quality hearing aids for a great price."

 – Christa Chandler, Licensed Hearing Instrument Specialist 

“A Believer in Increasing Access to Hearing Care” Is Thrilled to Make a Difference In Her Patient’s Lives

"I am a strong believer in increasing access to hearing healthcare to as many people as possible, especially to people who otherwise get left out. Often, this includes those who have mobility issues or other trouble leaving the house, which became an especially big problem after COVID came into play. This also includes people who otherwise can't afford the excessive expense of most hearing aids on the market today. MDHearing is doing so much to help make sure both of these groups are getting their needs met, which is why I felt moved to join the team. I'm thrilled to get to help make a difference in our patients' lives every day!" 

– Becky Klosowski, Licensed Hearing Instrument Specialist 

Veteran HIS Finds the Opportunity to “TRULY Help People”

"I have worked 10+ years in a traditional hearing aid business setting. Throughout those years, I put my passion and energy into helping change people’s lives through better hearing. However, there was always a HUGE challenge to overcome… which was affordability. 

For many years I sat on the side of the fence that tried to convince people they must invest $2K+, and sometimes upwards of $8-10K just to hear better and improve their lives. I tried to preach that affordable hearing aids were a myth to people I deeply cared about. And if affordable options were out there, they were labeled "amplifiers", "cheap", or "terrible investments” by many in the audiology community. 

This always deeply bothered me, especially being a second generation hearing aid provider, following in my dad's footsteps. Watching him help people live a better quality of life with the use of hearing devices made me proud. But in most cases, because of the cost, I was watching people walk out the doors of my dad's business with no solution. This truly bothered me to the core. I would go home feeling sad. Almost always, we would see people leave his office (and mine) with no help due to this one fact, cost. 

Being able to hear well was a luxury. I wanted to take part in changing that. I wanted to feel good about offering a device at an affordable cost and helping someone change their life by reconnecting with family and loved ones. I wanted people to get back a part of themselves that they had lost. I realized over time this is what VALUE really means. 

When I researched MDHearing and had many discussions with the VP of Operations, I found my home! I would say that D2C and OTC was the best move our industry could have made for those that need our help! Thank you MDHearing and each of my teammates who have given me the opportunity to TRULY help people, and offer me a place where I can feel good about what I'm doing and know that I'm making a difference."

 – Chad Putnam, Licensed Hearing Instrument Specialist 

Long-Time HIS Enjoys Working in an Environment Where Team Members Feel Comfortable Voicing Their Opinions

"I’ve been in the hearing industry for over 5 years. I started working in-clinic with a company that was worried more about the numbers rather than the employees. I had very little training and when we asked for help, we were told to figure it out. In contrast, MDHearing has been pretty amazing in that department—not only the management part of the team but also the other agents who are always looking for ways to help each other. 

The team takes our concerns and comments seriously, is always willing to work with us, find ways to make our lives easier, and help us feel comfortable voicing our opinions. Everyone is so approachable and committed to helping us succeed. It is incredible. I believe in teamwork again. 

I came to MDHearing because I moved back home, and there were very few clinics available to work in at the time. A friend that I worked with had just come to work for MDHearing, and she recommended the company to me. I was very concerned because I was always told that OTC hearing aids are not real hearing aids. I no longer feel that way, and I am proud to work for a company that provides a service and good hearing aids to people who can't afford them, or don't want to spend thousands. 

I like that we are remote for those that can't, or don't want to, leave their home. We still take care of them as if we were in a clinic. In a way, I feel like we provide a better service for our patients because we are getting them involved in the care and maintenance of their hearing aids, as opposed to them having to bring their hearing aids to us to clean and replace parts. We are there to walk them through it, and they understand the maintenance process much better because they have to do it. 

Additionally, we assist them in troubleshooting their hearing aids so they can do that on their own and not have to run out to a clinic or make an appointment to get help. Customers simply make a phone call in the comfort of their own homes." 

– Michelle Regel, Licensed Hearing Instrument Specialist 

Final Thoughts

After reading this article, you should have an excellent understanding of what it means to be a remote audiologist or hearing instrument specialist and why these opportunities are about to grow more plentiful. You might even be daydreaming about doing your job from a beach in Florida, a mountain in North Carolina, or from a location that’s a little bit closer to an aging relative or friend.

At the end of the day, if you’re considering the move into remote audiology, we hope you’ll think about joining our family. We’re confident you’ll find that our innovative spirit, collaborative work environment, career development opportunities, and generous compensation and benefits packages make MDHearing an exciting opportunity in the new and burgeoning field of remote audiology. 

Want to know more about working with MDHearing? Visit our open positions page!
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