Telehealth, telecare, telehear…”tele-something” is becoming a part of our daily vocabulary in healthcare. From general medical appointments to mental health services, telehealth is now widely available. More clinics, hospitals, and yes, even audiology practices are offering telehealth services. And while it may not be the perfect fit for every situation, it can be incredibly helpful in many ways.
For patients, it’s about convenience. You can meet with your healthcare provider during a lunch break, no need to take time off work, drive to a clinic, or sit in a waiting room. It’s healthcare that fits into your life, not the other way around.
For providers, it’s about efficiency. Virtual appointments allow us to schedule more tightly and manage logistics more effectively. With the help of AI tools, we can streamline scheduling and make care more accessible.
Despite the benefits, telehealth, especially in audiology, is underutilized. When we reach out to providers on behalf of a customer who wants to work with us for our wonderful reputation, ease of cost, and accessibility, to ask whether they can assist you remotely, the answer is often a disappointing “We don’t do that.”
Once in a while, we meet a young provider excited to work remotely, only to learn their clinic owners or administrators are resistant to implementing teleaudiology. We have to ask: Why?
Some of these concerns are valid. Yes, some people have outdated hearing aids that don’t support remote services. And yes, technology can sometimes be frustrating. Not everyone is tech-savvy. But let’s not forget, we can teach. We can support. We can breathe through the technical hiccups, together.
Telehealth is not just a matter of convenience. It opens up connections across geography and culture. Through virtual care, we’ve met people from the South, from different cultural backgrounds, from all walks of life. We learn from them. We grow with them. It expands our world beyond our local clinic. It can be enlightening.
It’s not just about hearing. It’s about listening—to people, to their needs, to their stories. It makes us better. It ups the game for other clinics. When we show our faces and our concern, it makes us human online. We recently got a review that shared how happy someone was that she found thinking humans online!
If you’re trying telehealth and something goes wrong, your mic doesn’t work, your internet cuts out, you can’t see us, we can’t see you, your hearing aid app crashes, don’t get discouraged. We’ll help. We’ll try again. Technology is never perfect. Neither are we. But with kindness, patience, and a willingness to try, teleaudiology can be life-changing.
Advocate to your clinic owners or administrators about the benefits of offering teleaudiology. Help them see that telecare isn’t just a trend, it’s here to stay. It allows us to meet patients where they are: online.
Don’t limit yourself to only seeing patients from your immediate neighborhood. While serving your local community is valuable, expanding your reach allows you to help even more people who are realizing how important it is to address their hearing health.
Affordable. Accessible. For Everyone.
You don’t have to be wealthy to access hearing care. Telehealth brings us closer to affordable, equitable support for hearing health. It’s time we embrace the future. Not just because it’s new, but because it can make our lives better.
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