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IntroductionThe Patients for Life program distinguishes your practice from every other audiology practice in your community. It is the cornerstone of the exceptional customer service and value you provide to your patients. Its success has been proven time and again as more AudigyCertified™ practices implement PFL and grow their practices beyond what they thought was possible.

Why Does Patients for Life Work?At the heart of the process is the emotionally genuine relationship every Audigy provider creates with his or her patients. This genuine connection with your patients starts with their first contact with your practice and continues throughout the treatment process. That emotional understanding of the patients’ needs drives the remarkable care you provide and creates the exceptional service they receive.

The Patients for Life program works because emotions are at the root of every decision we make. They drive long-term behavior and motivate action. Because you help your patients connect with the emotions underlying their hearing concerns, they understand the value only an AudigyCertified practice can provide. They become patients for life.

How Does Patients for Life Work?The Patients for Life program covers every step of your patients’ interaction with your practice, from initial telephone contact throughout their hearing instruments’ useful life and beyond. It helps providers and front office staff understand not only what patients need — the highest-quality hearing technology, customized to their specifications — but also why they need it. Patients want to achieve the emotional satisfaction of living the lifestyle of their choosing. They want to hear music, enjoy dining in restaurants, and listen to conversations in crowded rooms. They want to be able to connect with loved ones.

What Does the Patients for Life

Program Look Like?This resource manual aims to show you just that. It will walk you through the best practices we’ve discovered through collaboration with our Members, from the patient’s experience on the phone and in the office to the patient-provider consultation, fitting, and follow-up, all the way through to patient-retention efforts.

Just as the Patients for Life program attempts to build emotional connections between providers and patients by accessing the patients’ emotional needs, this resource manual attempts to provide you with an emotional understanding of why Patients for Life looks the way it does, how we apply those principles throughout each phase of the process, and what the individual step-by-step procedures look like.

As this resource manual goes into detail on each of the five phases of the Patients for Life program, it will aim to achieve the following goals:

§ Help you understand why your practice benefits if you implement the PFL processes described

§ Offer guiding principles and methodologies you should keep in mind during each phase

§ Provide step-by-step instructions describing the best practices you should implement

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The Provider Consultation: Step Three — Diagnostic Evaluation

Confirming the Patient’s ExperienceBy the time you begin the diagnostic examination, both you and the patient should have a good idea of the patient’s hearing issues. The diagnostic evaluation provides objective confirmation of the patient’s concerns. It’s quantitative evidence that further builds value for the treatment process you’ll be recommending next.

Relate the test results to the situations that the patient highlighted during the interview. For now, hold off on the emotional tie-ins. You’ll refer back to those later in the process, when you’re asking the patient to take action.

Right now you’re confirming their beliefs. You’re still preparing them to take a significant step toward solving their problems.

Relating the Test Results to the Patient’s ExperienceWhen you present the results of the hearing test, the patient should feel that their experience has been validated through objective means. Reinforce this connection between the results of the evaluation and the experiences they’ve had. Relate the results of the test to the specific situations in which they have described having problems hearing. Use the details and language the patient brought up in the discussion of their listening situations.

By linking their experiences with the test results, you’re preparing them to understand that you’re making recommendations with their lifestyle and situations in mind.

Be Patient FriendlyUse simple, patient-friendly language to explain the diagnostic evaluation process and the interpretation of test results. Provide the patient with the minimum amount of information they need to feel comfortable with the process. Don’t use medical or technical jargon. Be clear and concise.

Let the patient drive the process. Follow their lead, offering explanations as they request them.

Let the patient tell you when they’re ready to move on to the next step of the process.

Step Three: The Diagnostic EvaluationConduct the Diagnostic TestTake your patient to the sound booth. Explain that what you are doing will help you make the best possible

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recommendation for treating the patient’s hearing issues. Make sure that the patient feels comfortable inside the sound booth before you begin the test.

Use a list of commonly misunderstood words, as it will help you show your patient the negative effects of the Sound Voids they are experiencing. (See sample script on page 45.)

Introduce the AudiogramShow the patient the audiogram in the Guidebook or e-patient.

Explain how the audiogram works and where common sounds are found across the axes of volume and pitch or frequency.

Highlight the speech zone and the line that represents normal hearing. (See sample script on page 45.)

Chart the ResultsChart the results of the patient’s test on the audiogram of familiar speech sounds. Write down the results of the patient’s word test, although you will not be discussing them until Step Four: Treatment Solutions.

Circle or otherwise indicate the areas where the patient needs hearing assistance.

Validate the patient’s hearing experiences, and confirm that they understand your diagnosis.

Remind them that they will be able to take the audiogram home with them after the consultation. (See sample script on page 45.)

Delivering the Good NewsIf the patient’s hearing issues are treatable with technology solutions, bring this up immediately. Use this conversation to transition into the final step of the consultation, the discussion of treatment solutions. (See sample script on page 46.)

AGX Hearing Guidebook

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Real Ear Fitting Use Real Ear measurements to ensure that patients can comfortably hear live speech, with its continuously fluctuating amplitude and sound spectrum characteristics. The goal of Real Ear fitting is to make sure that soft sounds are audible, normal sounds are comfortable, and loud sounds are tolerable. These sounds include more than just speech. You may want to test normal environmental sounds — a door closing, objects dropped on a table or desk, etc. — to ensure they do not cause the patient discomfort.

Real Ear fitting literally shows the patient what they are able to hear — and what they are missing — so they understand why the adjustments you make as you program the device are so critical. It provides visual confirmation that you are custom-fitting their hearing devices to their specific hearing loss.

The Fitting and Follow-Up ProcessPost-Consultation StepsOnce the patient has accepted your treatment plan, begin preparing for the fitting and delivery appointment. During the wrap-up of the Consultation phase, you should have signed a thank-you note, and front office staff should have mailed it and a comment card to the patient. Front office staff should schedule the patient for a fitting appointment in approximately two weeks.

Order the appropriate hearing instruments. Make sure they will arrive at least 48 hours before the appointment.

Check In the TechnologyPrepare the technology for the patient before the fitting. Enter the patient’s information and verify the audiogram in Noah. Program the devices to first fit and ensure they have correct acoustic parameters. Plug in any accessories the day before the appointment so they are fully charged. Pair the accessories with the devices and the fitting software. Perform a listening check on the devices, and check microphone directionality and output.

Copy the device serial numbers and warranty information onto the delivery information sheet and the patient’s chart. Fill out the first two pages of the Sound Journal for the patient.

Place a reminder call to the patient 24 hours before their appointment. Encourage them to bring their companion to ensure the devices are customized to the patient’s lifestyle.

Prepare the fitting kit. The fitting kit should contain:

§ Case

§ Cleaning tool and cloth

§ Extra wax filters

§ Extra domes

§ Batteries and battery caddy

§ Drying case

§ Delivery Checklist sheet

§ Delivery information sheet

§ AGX Hearing Journal

§ Device manual

§ Business card with follow-up appointment

§ Referral cards

Now you’re ready for the fitting appointment.

Set Appointment ExpectationsExplain that the appointment will take about an hour. Keep your description at a high level and use patient-friendly language.

First you will fit the devices. Then you’ll show the patient how to take care of their devices. Finally, explain that you’ll spend the last half hour of the appointment helping them prepare to integrate the technology into their lifestyle.

Point out the steps in the appointment using the Delivery Checklist. Suggest that the patient follow along on the checklist during the appointment. It will serve as their road map, much like the Guidebook and e-patient during the

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consultation. Encourage the patient to take notes and ask any questions they may have.

OtoscopyBefore you fit and program the devices, visually inspect the patient’s ears for any signs of disease, infection, or impacted wax.

Physical FitCheck the fit of all aspects of the device: domes, molds, receiver size, the length of the tube, and the fit of the device on or in the patient’s ear. Since all of these physical attributes affect how the signal sounds at the eardrum and, consequently, how well the patient will hear, it is important to ensure physical fit will not be a factor once you begin programming and measuring the patient’s hearing devices. This is an important part of the fitting process that is easy to neglect.

ProgrammingDuring the programming step, keep three things in mind: consistency of process, variability between ears, and demonstrating your value.

The Patients for Life process strives for consistent treatment throughout the patient experience, but it is especially important during device programming. Being consistent with every single patient will provide better results to your patients sooner — and it will reduce returns and the need for follow-up appointments as well.

Everyone’s ears and hearing devices are different. Account for variability between the patient’s ears and the hearing devices during the fitting process. What works for one patient may not work for another. Don’t expect a first-fit setting to work for all patients.

Make sure you demonstrate your value as a practitioner. The work you do to fit devices properly to your patient’s needs provides a great deal of value to them. You’re taking the time to ensure your patient’s investment in their hearing pays off with improved quality of life — a commitment that goes beyond what many providers do.

Use speech mapping to ensure that you program the device properly. Speech mapping allows you to deliver precise programming with confidence, in a manner your patient can understand and see.

Have the patient and companion sit at a monitor viewing real-time graphics from the AGX Real Ear Fitting System. Make sure they understand the interaction between the lines representing normal hearing and their hearing assisted by the technology. As you adjust the programming, they will see the lines shift and converge. They’ll understand that you are tuning the devices just for them.

Suggested SystemThe AGX Real Ear Fitting System is a full-featured audiometry system with predefined workflows for easy navigation. It is compatible with Noah3, Noah4, and other certified office management systems. It helps you program your patients’ hearing devices accurately, efficiently, and consistently.

For patients, the AGX Real Ear Fitting System offers built-in professional consulting and an innovative client view that compares their current hearing ability against the range of normal hearing. With Real Ear, patients see objective evidence that the hearing technology is amplifying sounds across the speech spectrum.

Show your confidence in the fitting. Reference both the objective evidence on the screen and the patient’s own reporting on what they are hearing.