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It's been an interesting month at the TAI office. Many of our patients are hither and yon, calling from afar to reschedule appointments, check on warranties, and send us misbehaving hearing aids. We love hearing from everyone, but phone calls can be problematic for those with hearing loss. For example, we returned a message from a patient but did not hear back. We finally reached her and then got this email, which explained all:
Dear Holly & Sharon,
I'm glad we finally connected -- although it was a near miss when I understood you to say "cardiology" instead of "audiology!" My many appointments between now and December are with several kinds of cardiology monitors, so my assumption was that your call related to another one. The world of the deaf can be full of detours at times!
Virginia
Mistaking audiologists for cardiologists is understandable, although a bit risky. We've got Virginia scheduled for January, with a note to double check her hearing aid phone program!
Another item this month was the advent of an amazing new hearing aid technology that has yet to be launced officially. It takes guts to test drive the newest thing and pay a premium to do so. One patient took a detour when he checked internet prices and became enmeshed in the complexities of "special offers." The similar looks and product names of hearing aids drives us to distraction, so we know how confusing it was for our patient. The detour caused him anxiety that he might have missed a deal, even though he was very happy with his hearing aids. When we sat down with the internet numbers and compared apples to apples, we were surprised that our charges are lower in the short run AND the long run, not to mention the fact that we have access to this new technology and it's not even up on the internet sites. Talk about avoiding rocks and rapids!
Which brings us to our other patient and the end of our interesting month. Everything went wrong at this patient's appointment -- nothing worked, software failed, hardware failed. That's what can happen with new technology, right? Why it always happens to our favorite patient is a mystery, but he insisted on sticking with it and finally walked out of the office with the new hearing aid technology on his ears. We received this email the next day:
Dear Holly and Sharon,
After a few hours of using the new system tonight, I am pleased and excited to report that it has delivered "as advertised." We watched TV and then a movie. All the while, the regular TV sound volume was at any level that my wife cared for it to be. I also enjoyed being able to go to the kitchen and even the garage while still hearing every word.
If the system continues as is, I will consider it a sort of minor miracle. Right now, I am simply amazed and enthralled and happy. Thanks for your dedication and "stick-with-it" approach.....and for the business decision to offer this great hearing boost to those of us who have been seeking.
Sincerely, Jerry McCoy
We are happy that we have gone full steam ahead and mastered a new technology which is helping our patients hear better than ever before. We're happy we can help them navigate the hype of "special offers" and help them achieve their hearing goals with as few detours as possible. Most of all, we're happy we're Audiologists and not cardiologists! | 
