TeleHear feat. Dr. Kristy Lowery

Tele-Audiology: Creating Greater Access to Hearing Healthcare

TeleHear will allow you to video chat with an audiologist who can help assess your needs and offer any needed advice, including assisting with programming or troubleshooting hearing devices.

TeleHear is the practice of using telecommunications technology to evaluate and care for patients with hearing aids at a distance. Visits are done using video conferencing over the internet. The patient and audiologist communicate using an application designed for the purpose. The patient may participate using a personal computer with a webcam or smart mobile device with a built-in video camera.

TeleHear is a great way for patients to get specialty care especially if they are unable to leave their home due to injury or illness.

What are the Benefits of TeleHear?  

• Less exposure to illness 
• Save time and money from commuting 
• Hearing aid adjustments made in your home environment 

About Dr. Kristy Lowery

Dr. Kristy Lowery, Ph.D., CCC-A, FAAA has over fifteen years of experience helping patients of all ages in a variety of settings including ear, nose and throat clinics as well as in private practice.  She is a Fellow in the American Academy of Audiology and holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech Language and Hearing Association.  Dr. Lowery received her undergraduate degree from Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi and received a Master’s Degree in Audiology and her Ph.D. in Speech and Hearing Science from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.  Her area of interest and specialty is in the diagnosis and treatment of hearing loss.  Most of her clinical research was in the area of amplification, specifically looking at noise reduction technology in hearing aids as it relates to the objective and subjective outcomes of hearing aid users.

Dr. Lowery has been recognized for multiple awards and honors, including the Mary Whiton Caulkins Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Research and the James Jerger Award for Excellence in Student Research.  One of her published manuscripts was named “The Best of Audiology Literature 2007,” by Gustav Mueller.  She also served as a member of a collaborative audiology advisory board through Ear Q in 2013.  Dr. Lowery holds a license in every state.

Outside of work, Dr. Lowery enjoys spending time with her husband and two daughters.  She enjoys cooking, reading, and is a self-proclaimed fitness junkie, who can often be found in the kitchen trying to figure out how to make eating healthy more delicious (and convince her kids of it!).  She also enjoys live music as well as watching college football (go Vols!) 

Visit our website and take our quick online hearing screener. 

And if you're ready to take the next step, our online hearing care provider locator can help you find a trusted hearing care professional near you. Taking that first step can make a meaningful difference, helping you stay connecting to the people and moments that matter most. 

Connect with the Hearing Matters Podcast Team

Email: hearingmatterspodcast@gmail.com

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Transcript

Blaise Delfino (00:06):

You're tuned in to the Hearing Matters Podcast. The show that discusses hearing technology, best practices, and a growing national epidemic hearing loss. Before we kick this episode off, a special thank you to our partners. Starkey, "Hear better. Live better." Weave, the all-in-one patient communication and engagement platform. Redux, faster, dryer, smarter, verified. Fader plugs, the world's first custom adjustable ear plug.

            Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the Hearing Matters Podcast. I am so thrilled to have Dr. Kristy Lowery joining me on the Hearing Matters Podcast today. And we have such a special episode for all of you. We are going to talk all things, telehealth, teleaudiology. Kristy is the Global Director of TeleHear and Clinical Training at Audibel. And fun fact about Dr. Kristy Lowery, she is licensed in all 50 states in the United States of America. That is absolutely incredible. Dr. Lowery, welcome to the Hearing Matters Podcast.

Dr. Kristy Lowery (01:27):

Thank you so much, Blaise. I'm really excited to be with you today.

Blaise Delfino (01:30):

Personally, I was so excited for this episode because our industry, it seems as though is always experiencing innovation, disruption, competition. And that's amazing because it makes us as hearing healthcare providers that much better. And when we talk about telehealth and teleaudiology, it's really under the umbrella of access. It's all about access. And before we dive in Kristy, what inspired you to enter the field of audiology?

Dr. Kristy Lowery (02:00):

It's a great question. And I think probably very similar to a lot of audiologists out there. My first exposure to this field was through the lens of a speech pathologist. And so my undergraduate degree is in something completely different. I went to a really small school in Jackson, Mississippi called Millsaps College. Audiology was not on my radar, to be perfectly honest, didn't even know it was a thing. And then my first job out of school, I was working at a psychiatric residential treatment facility for children, and a speech pathologist contracted with our company and came in and worked with some of our kiddos. And I saw such growth in those children. And so it really excited me to want to do that.

            And so, because my undergraduate degree was in something completely different, I had to then before I was able to apply to what I thought was going to be SLP school. I had to take a year of what they called, at the time, purgatory. And I'll tell you, it was pretty appropriately named, I think, at that point, but not sure what they changed the name to now. But basically in a year's time, I had to take all of the courses required of a communication disorders, undergraduate degree to fulfill those requirements. And so audiology 101 comes up, and by the second class I was hook, line, and sinker. I thought, "This is where it's at. This is what I want to do." And so instead of applying for SLP, I applied to the AuD program, and I was actually the first AuD class admitted as an AuD class at the University of Tennessee. So I was entering the field right at the transition time from the Master's to the AuD.

            So I was in my third year, second semester of my AuD program. So finish line and site, and I was really enjoying the research that I was doing. Got the bug and continued to do the PhD route. So it's transitioned over from the AuD to the PhD program, just continued to do research, but I always had a love of clinical, and I knew that I didn't want to abandon that. So I ended up doing a CFY simultaneously while doing my PhD work and research, got my Cs and ended up being able to supervise AuD students at UT while I was finishing up my research. So a really great experience for me in that transition, but that's what got me in the field in the beginning.

Blaise Delfino (04:29):

I mean, Kristy, that is absolutely incredible. And when we talk about students today going for audiology, it is really that hook, line, and sinker moment that you had talked about, where it's often that aha moment of, yes, this is what I want to do, this is why I want to go into audiology. And Kristy, what's so amazing about audiology? Believe it or not, the scope is quite vast. You can go into private practice, you can do teleaudiology, manufacturing, what attracted you to where you are today?

Dr. Kristy Lowery (05:04):

So I have a lot of different backgrounds. I was so fortunate at the University of Tennessee that we had a really varied clinical experience throughout our program. So I got to be in the school system. I got to work at adult ENT practices, pediatric ENT practices, a hospital setting, a private practice. And so I had all those experiences to know where I liked to be. And I really liked the medical setting. I really loved pediatrics. My CFY was actually split 50/50. But very long story short, we ended up in the Nashville area for an opportunity, our family didn't want to pass up for my husband's job. I took a clinical job. Wasn't a loss for me. I still feel like daily, I was able to use the knowledge I gained in my PhD program to critically evaluate how I was doing things and why I was doing things.

            But I worked at an ENT practice for seven years and it was a fantastic experience. The doctors and I had a wonderful relationship. They trusted me as a healthcare provider within their practice. Worked at a private practice for a little bit after that, just needed a change and some growth in my abilities and skills. And then when I was in graduate school, you mentioned teleaudiology being or telehealth being a thing in our field. It wasn't a thing. When I started graduate school, it was the furthest thing that I could've imagined I would end up doing really. I didn't know that it was a possibility. I didn't fathom that at the time. Now, I know it was around at the time, but not something that was on my radar, certainly.

            And so when I came across this opportunity, when I found it, I was just tenacious in how I pursued this position in this job. And Dr. Kent Collins, who actually is the founder of the telehealth program at Starkey. You can ask him to this day. We joke about it because I did not let him forget, "Hey, knock, knock, when you have a position I'd like to be considered."

Blaise Delfino (07:08):

And here we are.

Dr. Kristy Lowery (07:09):

So yeah. And here we are. Yeah.

Blaise Delfino (07:09):

So Kristy, you talked about your experience working at an ENT office and then private practice. And we both know how busy those offices can get, and you want to make sure that you are providing first class care and service to every single patient that you see. And oftentimes that might be a little difficult to do in person. So practices today have the ability to implement teleaudiology or telehealth. Now, you of course have a passion for telehealth, teleaudiology. Share with us the history of teleaudiology and how telehealth creates greater access for individuals with hearing loss.

Dr. Kristy Lowery (07:54):

Sure. And I'll speak through the lens of our program specifically because it's what I'm most aware of, obviously. But clearly Dr. Fabry has talked about this quite a bit, and shown pictures from many years prior to me starting to do this about with him using teleaudiology [inaudible 00:08:15]-

Blaise Delfino (08:14):

That was in the early '90s right, Kristy?

Dr. Kristy Lowery (08:16):

Yeah.

Blaise Delfino (08:17):

Yeah.

Dr. Kristy Lowery (08:17):

Yeah.

Blaise Delfino (08:17):

The early '90s teleaudiology was around. Sorry for interrupting you.

Dr. Kristy Lowery (08:21):

No. Yeah, no, no, but it's been around for a very long time. I didn't want to date them anymore, I was thinking late '80s, but early '90s. Okay. We're there. My experience is with specifically the TeleHear program, which is Starkey's telehealth program. And it was founded in 2013 by Dr. Kent Collins. And the idea was to support hearing healthcare clinicians in their practice, to be able to provide an instant second opinion to their patient. Have those practitioners that are alone in an office have a second set of eyes on patient care, which it was founded after that, that Mayo Clinic approach to hearing healthcare, which is collaborative. When you go to the Mayo Clinic, you're not only seeing your doctor, but a room of specialists have had their eyes on your case. And they collaborate with related fields to make sure that no stone is unturned and you're getting the very best healthcare that you can get.

            And so that was the premise of TeleHear and how it was born. And we serve the corporate owned offices of Starkey or Audibel. What so cool about it is, patients can come into a brick-and-mortar store and see their healthcare provider, and anywhere along the patient journey, a telehealth audiologist as a second opinion can be inserted. And so not only do we have that ability, and by the way, patients love it, we've done surveys, we can show the data. Patients really enjoy having that second collaborator. And it's not because the provider in the office isn't exceptional, they absolutely are. They don't need us, but it really enhances the patient experience to have that second provider there, that doctor on the screen, reassuring them that this is the right decision, that they're in the very best hands they can be. And it's not something that any of our competition has.

            And so it really sets their practice apart. And in today's competitive landscape, that's really important. It's a big deal. And so we want to be that place that provides the very best service, and that our patients go out and tell their friends, and neighbors, and family about. When the pandemic hit, of course, things changed quite a bit, it did for everybody. And we were really well poised, I think, to be able to pivot very quickly to help support our patients. And so prior to the pandemic, we were mostly business to business. Meaning our clinic provider would connect with us and we would see the patient and see the provider, but they were in a brick-and-mortar store. Well, after that, a lot of our brick-and-mortar stores were shut down temporarily. Our providers weren't coming in, but our patients still needed to hear they still needed help.

            And so our team, the infrastructure, the ability to reach our patients was already in place. So we just implemented, day one, we were figuring out, "Okay, how do our patients need us? How can we help them?" And then from that, we really modified who we were as a TeleHear team and how we were helping to support not only our clinics now, but our patients directly and indirectly doing so help our providers as well. Because when we have a touchpoint with the patient during the provider's really busy day, but at a time when the patient really needs, it frees our provider up to really concentrate on the patient that's in front of them in the office. And yet their existing customer, their existing patient, is getting the care that they need in that moment and not having to wait for an appointment tomorrow or a week from now.

Blaise Delfino (12:16):

And Kristy, what I found so interesting and so promising about TeleHear is that 90% of patients agreed that completing a follow-up fine tuning appointment remotely with TeleHear would be a suitable replacement for an in person programming session. I think that is absolutely astounding. And that is incredible because, obviously, having a background in private practice, fitting patients, conducting the follow-ups. These patients when trained appropriately on the technology, and, of course, first fitting needs to be in person. But-

Dr. Kristy Lowery (12:52):

Absolutely. Yeah.

Blaise Delfino (12:53):

... that follow up, second follow up that can today all be done virtually, just like you and I are recording this podcast episode. And I still feel like we're able to have this awesome conversation. And when we talk about the access and accessibility to hearing healthcare, we have the tools to do so. TeleHear absolutely solves that problem. And, of course, to your point with that second opinion, it's not that our providers they're great, they're phenomenal. But it is a comfort level of, okay, they just reinforced what the provider just told me. I really like that, absolutely. Dr. Lowery, you and your team have been working on a platform that has helped thousands. I repeat thousands of patients. So this is called TeleHear. What is TeleHear? And how is this platform transforming the hearing healthcare industry?

Dr. Kristy Lowery (13:52):

I'd like to just point out for all of our Starkey customers that are listening, TeleHear in the way that I'm using the term and referring to my team is different than TeleHear, which is the synchronous remote programming available in our Thrive app. We share a name and we share a passion for helping our patients remotely, but two different things. So the TeleHear program is able to... It's a team of remote audiologists. We're located throughout the United States. We have a group of audiologists and we have a group of tele technicians, which help to support us in our offices as well.

            And we connect daily with the offices of Audibel corporate owned as well as network, in order to do literally anything that we can to help that patient experience be better, and to help support our local providers. That could be helping to get a patient to, yes, during a hearing consultation, it could be putting a second set of eyes on an audiogram that doesn't look quite like your garden variety, sensory neuro loss, determining is this a medical referral? Is this a treat then refer type of situation? Is it critical that the patient get in today to see an ENT? And how can we help facilitate that?

            It is a troubleshooting appointment where we've programmed the hearing aids and sent the patient out, and they're just not quite to that level of satisfaction they need to be. As professional, we've all been in that boat where we've tried, and tried, and tried, and we're tapped out on ideas. And sometimes when you're in the weeds with the situation, a new set of eyes on a problem is exactly what you need to help solve the patient's issue. So we do that. We literally can help with anything throughout the patient journey. We can help with counseling in a busy clinic, we've made mention to that before either an ENT practice, a private practice in a busy clinic.

            Sometimes it's really nice to have a colleague that you say, "You know what? Ms. Smith has been waiting for 20 minutes for her hearing consult, but Ms. Johnson, she still really needs some handholding on being able to talk about this, to put the hearing aids in and take them out. And I don't want to send her out the door the way she is because she's not quite there, but I also don't want my patient to wait anymore." So handing that patient off in a very professional and caring manner to a telehealth provider, where we can spend the time while you go see your next patient and get that process started, letting that patient know their time is valuable to you. You can still give the patient the undivided to attention to let's make sure, let's practice one more time. Let's put them in. Let's take them out.

            I want you to open the battery door for me and show me that you are comfortable doing that. What questions do you have about wearing these in a restaurant situation? So we're really able to help divide and conquer in a way that you wouldn't be able to do. Otherwise, if you are a sole practitioner in an office, you want to make sure the patient is getting the very best care, but you're under the constraints of a schedule and it's sometimes a balancing act. And so we try to make that balancing act easier for our providers and our patients.

Blaise Delfino (17:12):

I love the option, especially if you are a single provider office, you can have a separate room that is just for telehealth, and you can schedule how you see fit for those patients. And the TeleHear audiologist is part of your team, they are there to help the patient here better, live better. They are there to help you with the counseling and the follow-up appointments. Speaking from experience, Kristy, our patients loved remote programming, and there are some options of asynchronous and synchronous programming. There's pros and cons to both. I personally like the synchronous programming because you're able to see the patient and make the changes in real time, and then they can provide you that real time feedback as well. That's something that I love about the remote programming.

Dr. Kristy Lowery (18:04):

Exactly. And how many times as a clinician, if you've practiced more than a day, you've had the situation where the patient says, "You know what, Blaise? I hear great in the office, but when I go home and I'm in my living room with my family and trying to have a conversation and watch television, it just doesn't sound like it does what I'm in the office." We've all had that happen. And the beauty of remote programming, especially synchronous remote programming is it gives the patient the ability to reach us from their problem spots. I've had so many appointments where the patient has been in their home and they say, "You know what? It sounds great in the office, but I get here and I just can't hear my daughter. And that's a problem. That's why I walked into your door in the first place."

            And so we are able then to have the daughter speak to the patient while we're making adjustments. And I'll tell you, it's been my experience that in those situations, the adjustments that I'm making are not too far off from where they were, when they walked out of the office. A DB here, or there can make a big perceptual difference to a patient. We know that, but I think there's a big psychological component to it as well. It's the patient being heard and being met where they need to be met. That also makes it wildly successful.

Blaise Delfino (19:22):

Yes, absolutely. And with that synchronous follow-up, you're absolutely right because that's part of the counseling, that's part of the follow-up as humans. Communication is the exchange of ideas, and language is a code in which ideas are shared, as humans. Yes, we have technology today that allows us to connect with each other, but nothing can replace that human interaction, especially when you're working with patients who present with hearing loss. Kristy, what can hearing healthcare professionals do today to implement telehealth in their practice? We know some audiologists or hearing healthcare professionals may have tried it. They don't like it. I will say, test it out before you even roll out with it, with your team members. But what can providers do today to implement telehealth in their practice?

Dr. Kristy Lowery (20:16):

Just one step at a time, you have to just do it. There's a reason that Nike slogan has been so successful and around for so many years, you just have to do it. And I will fully admit, I was really nervous the first time I did it, because as a professional and as a healthcare provider, when you've gotten to the point where you have a patient in hearing aids, you've spent time with them, you have worked hard to build their trust. You want them to think of you as competent. Well, when you're doing something for the first time, especially telehealth, and you're not sure exactly which button to push or how this is going to work out, that puts you at risk of not seeming competent in front of your patients.

            So I think that might be a one big hesitation to providers. I don't think anybody would argue the fact that it's a convenience thing and that patients would love it. There are enough data to support that our patients truly do love it, but we just have to try it and to get over the hump. That first time I did it so nervous going into the appointment, it's very easy. It's really not as difficult as we think. And it's that patient's first time to do this as well. So it's not like they're going to know if you stumble over a button push on your end, right? Ultimately they're going to know that you provided care for them in a manner that was meaningful for them. And you got to the outcome that was needed, right? That's all they care about. And so once you do it that first time, and you realize it's not quite as scary or as difficult as you may perceive it to be, nothing's going to stop you at that point.

            Always think back to a quote. And I think I've shared this with you before Blaise, but John Basant said, "That there are few things that generate more Goodwill and repeat business than being effortless to deal with." And I think that this is a tool that we have been given by the hearing aid manufacturers. And I know Starkey's, I can speak to that. It's very easy. And I think that Starkey has done a wonderful job of providing us as professionals with an intuitive tool. And it's also pretty intuitive to the patient as well, especially if we feel comfortable with it. And when we're showing it to them, that exudes to the patient. But we have this tool, why would we not use it?

Blaise Delfino (22:34):

Kristy, when our family's practice started to introduce telehealth and remote programming, what we did, and for our practices' listening out there, one of our patient care coordinators wears hearing technology. So we downloaded the app and we conducted testing sessions. So before we actually rolled this out with our patients, we had already tested this first in the office. Her name is Mary Sue. She was in one room, we were in the other, and then she was at home, so we made sure that we tested this out.

            But from a provider standpoint, I mean, I think we would both agree to test it out in house first, especially with your demo hearing aids because that's going to build up your confidence. And some of the first times that I personally conducted telehealth, you have to have fun with your patients. I would hop on, and say, "This is a little different, isn't it?" And that breaks down that barrier of I've never seen my healthcare provider on a screen before. But I believe one of the positives that did come out of COVID is more individuals are accepting of this concept of telemedicine and in our case, teleaudiology.

Dr. Kristy Lowery (23:48):

Yeah. I completely agree. And I was going to make the same point that I've been doing TeleHear, telehealth since 2017. And I remember those first few years, sometimes we'd come on the screen in our offices and the patient would say, "Oh, this is like FaceTime. I do this with my grandkids." Haven't really gotten that comment in some time now because the world had to shift and pivot very quickly. Patients are more and more used to doing things like this. And I think that's a hang up that we can have as providers as well, is assuming that our patients would be uncomfortable with this. I can assure you, they are not, they really are not.

            And I think what you said is a beautiful thing, practice it with your demo aids, practice it with that patient that you've been helping for years and you know that they would be a great guinea pig, isn't it? That might not be the best term to use. But that patient, that you have a great relationship with, they would love to do this, there's no reason that they wouldn't. And so you have to think outside the box a little bit to practice to get yourself comfortable with it. But I think that those are some great ideas in how to really get yourself over the hump, so that you can get your patients along with you.

Blaise Delfino (25:14):

And we know that providers have limited time, correct? And really, what teleaudiology does is it gives you back some time if you think about it. Because, especially if your patient care coordinator is scheduling this appointment for you, they're going to put the notes in that Mrs. Smith reported that the water is too harsh or they're having trouble in background noise. You can already go into that appointment with a game plan and visually you can already see the fitting software. So you're like, "I know I have a game plan. I know what I'm going to do." And then you make the adjustments, you talk back and forth with the patient. I truly believe that the patients so appreciate it, Dr. Lowery, because understanding the psychology of the hearing impaired, they want to be heard, and this is so new to them.

            And that's why the hearing healthcare provider will always be a part of the equation because we are human beings, we thrive on social human interaction. Kristy, I'm a patient, and let's say, I feel as though I suspect I have hearing loss. What do patients gain by visiting a hearing healthcare professional who implements the use of telehealth and remote programming?

Dr. Kristy Lowery (26:31):

The first thing I would say is that a provider that implements telehealth and remote programming is going to be that provider that is innovative and always doing the newest thing, not necessarily the newest thing, just because it's newest. But they're the type of provider that is always going to be on the cutting edge, which is a great thing as a patient. You think of yourself as a patient yourself and in any type of healthcare arena, not just audiology. You want that doctor that you're seeing, that practitioner that you're seeing to always be looking for, how can I best help my patients? And-

Blaise Delfino (27:10):

Cutting edge.

Dr. Kristy Lowery (27:10):

Yes, absolutely. And so not only do you have that going for you, you're going to see a great provider, but you know that provider is going to value your time. And they recognize that not only are they busy, but you're a busy individual as well, we're busier and busier these days.

            And so being able to take a call from your home and have your hearing aids adjusted, rather than perhaps taking off work or rearranging childcare. Or what have you to drive to an office, sit and wait, see a provider, for it may take that provider 10 minutes, five minutes to make the adjustment necessary that you needed. But you've now wasted, not wasted, you accomplished something, but you've taken two hours out of your day. That could have been accomplished in 10 minutes. I mean-

Blaise Delfino (28:03):

It gives you back time.

Dr. Kristy Lowery (28:03):

... that's so valuable. That is so valuable. Yeah. I read this story one time about a little girl who was sitting, watching her mom make Thanksgiving dinner, and she'd done this for years. And she's sitting there watching her mom and she sees that the mom cuts the end of the ham off and puts it in the pan. And the little girl thinks, "Why does she do that? Mom, why do you always cut off the end of the ham before you put it in the pan to cook?" She's like, "Gosh, you know what? Because my mom always did." So call up grandma on the phone, "Mom, why did you always cut the end off the ham?" "Well, hon, I didn't have a pan big enough." So I think the point of that is that we can get into ruts and habits because it's the way that we've always done it and not think about it. Just wrote, just do it because that's what we do, that's what we've always done. It works, right?

            But there's better way out there. It can be. So we should always be questioning ourselves for the sake of how can this better serve my patient? How can this better help me as a provider to give more access and care to my patients, to optimize my schedule so I can see more patients more quickly? So that's part of the equation too. In today's day and age, our patients want things quickly. We, as consumers of healthcare of whatever, are used to things being quick.

Blaise Delfino (29:29):

The Amazon mindset.

Dr. Kristy Lowery (29:32):

And so... Exactly. And if we need something, especially something as important as our hearing. I can't hear well, I don't want to wait till next week to get in to see my provider, I need to hear better now. And so we have got to meet our patients where they're at in those terms.

Blaise Delfino (29:48):

And, Kristy, I think to the providers listening in right now, we as humans don't like change. And when you have never implemented teleaudiology in your practice, or you've straight away from remote programming as a private practice owner and as an audiologist. I'm sure you'll agree with this, before you even roll out, and before you even test the remote programming, hold and host a change management meeting at your office, discuss what teleaudiology or telehealth is. How it positively influences the patient, how it helps the practice, why you're going to roll out with this because to get your entire team on board, even the patient care coordinator, which in my opinion, is one of the most important positions out there. So everyone knows, "Oh, we do remote programming, Mrs. Smith. That's why you should come into our office. We are not afraid of technology, but we're implementing the use of this technology and platform to best serve our patients and better serve our community." Dr. Lowery, in your opinion, what does the future of teleaudiology look like? And what can we expect from TeleHear?

Dr. Kristy Lowery (31:03):

I mean, I think the future is very bright. It's so hard to predict because 10 years ago, I wouldn't have imagined what we can do with teleaudiology today. And so I don't know what's coming, but I know that there's going to be a very specific why behind it, and the why is just not for the sake of doing something. The why is always going to be because it serves our patients better than anyone else, because this is what our patient needs. And at the end of the day, that's why we all got into this field. And so invigorating to help a patient hear better and connect with their family, connect with their life. That's why we all do this. And so maybe one day we'll be able to test patients remotely and fit them remotely. That's not today, but I always think there's going to be a huge part of hearing healthcare that is in the hands of the hearing care professional.

            We all know anybody who's fit a hearing aid knows that you can't put, even if it's a fantastic hearing aids premium technology, you can't just set it, put it in the patient's ear and tell them, "Okay, great. Go here better." It always requires the hearing care professional to listen to their patient, to have the knowledge of programming of the psychology of the patient, of how this is going to affect how they're hearing. And that relationship is so very important. And I think that it can only be strengthened through telehealth, or that's a great way for it to be strengthened is that connection that we didn't have otherwise. Regardless of what the technology enables us to do in the future, I feel very strongly that it's going to further bring the practitioner and the patient closer together. And it's going to enable communication, which is we know very important in order to get the end result that we need for our patients. And it's going to be with the end goal of making sure that the patient can hear the very best that they can.

Blaise Delfino (33:08):

You're tuned in to the Hearing Matters Podcast. The show that discusses hearing technology, best practices, and a growing national epidemic hearing loss. Today, we had Dr. Kristy Lowery from Starkey. She is the Global Director of TeleHear and Clinical Training at Audibel. Until next time, hear life's story.