earing Associated Audiologists Unveils New Web Site! Information From Associated Audiologists, Inc. Hearing Your Best for Life

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1 earing H Y O U R B E S T Information From Aociated Audiologit, Inc. Hearing Your Bet for Life Vol. 13, Iue 3 Aociated Audiologit Unveil New Web Site! Aociated Audiologit ha unveiled it new web ite! The ite addre i till the ame, but it ha everal exciting feature we hope you will enjoy. We not only have given the ite an all-new look, but we ve updated and added to all of the information on our ite to be certain everything we provide you i the mot up-to-date information available, ay Tim Steele, Ph.D., FAAA, practice preident. We hope you ll check it out and ue it often! The new web ite include background on the practice, biographie on the audiologit and the five reaon to chooe u, but we alo have included: A brief pictorial tour of each clinic, along with a mapping feature Patient ucce torie Latet hearing technology Dizzine and imbalance Tinnitu Troublehooting New and event, including a ign-up for upcoming workhop Check U Out! Win an ipad mini! We hope you ll find our new ite eay to navigate. Let u know what you think! Sign up for our free e-newletter and your name will be entered in our drawing! hearingyourbet.com/ipad

2 Hearing Your Bet By Tim Steele, Ph.D., FAAA, Preident Aociated Audiologit, Inc. Hear Here... I ve been aked a lot recently whether or not there will be ignificant change in audiology under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), better known a healthcare reform. Exactly how the ACA will fully impact audiology i not completely clear and we will keep you informed a we continue to learn more. However, the mot obviou change for audiology ervice delivery will relate to the coordination of care and documentation of quality. Alo, hearing aid will remain exempt from tax, even with the new medical device tax under what i called the retail exemption. Thi exemption alo include eye glae and contact lene. One thing that will remain unchanged i our trong commitment to quality. Aociated Audiologit, Inc. proudly celebrated our 28th anniverary in May. Dr. Jame Wie founded the practice on high principle providing outtanding quality, comprehenive, ethical, and cutomer-focued audiology ervice. I pledged to continue thi philoophy, while keeping the practice locally and independently owned, when I purchaed Aociated Audiologit from Dr. Wie in I peak for Dr. Wie and our entire taff when I aure you that we take the reponibility of your care eriouly. We realize there are variou product-only option conumer have uch a warehoue retail, manufacturer-owned competition, and national franchie. That i why we remain dedicated to delivering cutting-edge audiology care for hearing lo, tinnitu, and dizzine/vertigo that the one thing you can count on amidt the many other uncertaintie in healthcare. Thank you for your buine and loyalty. We will work hard to maintain your confidence. Healthcare Reform Update Recent healthcare reform mandate have alo brought change to the patient privacy practice of clinic uch a Aociated Audiologit. The change impact the Health Inurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and how we communicate with you on an ongoing bai. Pleae be aware that the next time you are in one of our clinic, we may ak you to update your contact information, a well a how you would like u to communicate with you. Opt Out Option If you would like to be removed from the Aociated Audiologit, Inc. mailing lit for our newletter and other correpondence, pleae contact Lia Caravello, Practice Development Coordinator, at lia@hearingyourbet.com, or call Continued Work with Wahington Healthcare reform actually doen t require Medicare beneficiarie to make any change to their exiting inurance coverage. But, individual under 65 mut now have inurance or pay a $95 per peron penalty, aeed on their income taxe. To learn more about how to purchae health inurance on the exchange, viit Everyone under 65 mut be covered by Jan. 1, In the meantime, Tim Steele, Ph.D., FAAA, practice preident, continue to work with Wahington leader and the Academy of Doctor of Audiology (ADA) to allow Medicare patient the option of going directly to a qualified audiologit for hearing and balance diagnotic tet, without a phyician referral. The ADA alo i requeting limited licene phyician tatu, which would allow Medicare coverage for a broader range of the ervice that audiologit already offer patient, but which are not currently covered when audiologit provide the ervice, uch a BPPV (poitional vertigo) treatment and ear wax removal. Audiologit are qualified to adminiter thee ervice and uually are the mot cot-effective option. To help make hearing aid more affordable for all American, there alo i a propoed $500 tax credit for the purchae of hearing aid. The credit could be taken once every five year for individual 55 and over whoe adjuted gro income i $200,000 or le. 2

3 Audiologit Receive Promotion Several of our audiologit have recently received promotion. Pleae congratulate them on their hard work and achievement: David Nien, Au.D., FAAA, ha been named Prairie Village Manager. Dana Jacobon, Au.D., FAAA, ha been named Overland Park Manager. Erica Smith, Au.D., FAAA, ha been named Leavenworth Manager. Stacey Baldwin, Au.D., FAAA, ha been named Clinical Sytem Manager. Laura Flower, Au.D., FAAA, ha been named Tinnitu and Sound Senitivity Manager. Technology Update Lyric 2.3 i Here! The next generation of the Lyric hearing device i now available. Thi device i deigned to fit more patient and provide peak performance. Lyric continue to be the only 100 percent inviible hearing device wearable for month at a time 24/7. The candidacy criteria remain important. Early reult indicate Lyric 2.3 i performing a well or better than the previou verion for ound quality and overall patient atifaction. Talk with your audiologit to ee if you are a good candidate for the latet hearing technology from Lyric. We fit Lyric at our Prairie Village clinic, , and oon will expand to offer it at our Overland Park and Manhattan office. Leavenworth and Manhattan Clinic Celebrate Anniverarie Our Leavenworth and Manhattan Clinic are celebrating anniverarie thi fall! O ur Leavenworth Clinic opened in October 2008 in the Cuhing Medical Plaza, Suite 105. Erica Smith, Au.D., FAAA, i the enior audiologit and manager who ha been dedicated to thi clinic ince it opening. Dr. Smith ha done a wonderful job of etablihing Aociated Audiologit at thi location, ay Tim Steele, Ph.D., FAAA, practice preident. She provide an important ervice to the Leavenworth community. To chedule an appointment with Dr. Smith, call Our Manhattan Clinic opened in September 2012 in the Manhattan Medical Center, Suite 101A. Sam Gillepie, Au.D., FAAA, i the enior audiologit who i dedicated to thi clinic. He alo ee patient in clinic at Nemaha Valley Community Hopital, Morri County Hopital Clinic and the Wahington Clinic. Dr. Gillepie alo reide in the Manhattan community. Dr. Gillepie ha worked very hard to help u uccefully etablih thi clinic and we re very excited about the community repone, Dr. Steele ay. To chedule an appointment with Dr. Gillepie, call Join the converation! Find u on facebook. hearingyourbet 3

4 Hearing Your Bet Proper Battery Dipoal Can Prevent Emergency With the holiday here and familie gathered together, be ure to carefully dipoe of your hearing aid batterie. The tiny batterie we ue in our hearing aid can eaily be wallowed by a mall child, ay Michael Blum, D.O., If a child wallow a hearing aid battery, it i a medical emergency. Call 911 and eek medical help immediately. For more information, you alo can call the National Poion Control Center at or viit a pediatrician and patient of Aociated Audiologit, Inc. Thee batterie can lodge in the eophagu or tomach. When a button battery come in contact with the digetive ytem, it let off an electrical current that begin to burn the body. Seriou injury can occur in a little a two hour, burning a hole in the eophagu for example, and creating a medical emergency. In fact, according to the U.S. Poion Control Center, each year approximately 3,500 incident of button battery ingetion are reported. Seriou injurie and even death have more than quadrupled from 2005 to A omeone who wear hearing aid, I am very enitive to thi iue, Dr. Blum ay. I know how eay it i to drop a battery or leave one lying around, but it important to keep your hearing aid and the batterie away from mall children, Dr. Blum ay. To keep hearing aid batterie, and all batterie, out of the reach of mall children, Dr. Blum ugget you place a jar in your kitchen or bathroom where you can depoit ued batterie. Thi i a good way to keep our children and grandchildren afe, and collect the batterie for dipoal. We encourage you to dipoe of all batterie in an ecologically reponible manner or recycle them. To find a center that recycle near you, viit and enter hearing aid battery recycling. Tinnitu Program Expand Aociated Audiologit i expanding our popular tinnitu program, which i now the Tinnitu and Sound Senitivity Program. Baed in our Shawnee Miion clinic, Laura Flower, Au.D., FAAA, will manage the team dealing with tinnitu and ound enitivity. Thi will include Suan Smittkamp, Au.D., Ph.D. FAAA, who alo ee patient in our Shawnee Miion clinic, and Sam Gillepie, Au.D., FAAA, who ee patient in our Manhattan clinic. The program feature a two-hour initial conultation with one of the tinnitu and ound enitivity pecialit. During thi aement, the audiologit will collect ignificant information from the patient and will demontrate ome of the equipment and device ued to treat tinnitu. We think thi i an excellent way for our audiologit to devote the attention neceary to diagnoing and treating tinnitu, ay Tim Steele, Ph.D., FAAA, practice preident. A ignificant number of our patient have tinnitu and hearing lo, and there are many effective treatment option available to them. For more information about the Tinnitu and Sound Senitivity Program, call

5 Linda Erickon Re-Join Practice Linda Erickon, M.A., FAAA, ha recently re-joined Aociated Audiologit, Inc., and i eeing patient at the practice Overland Park and Prairie Village clinic. She i pecializing in diagnoing and treating hearing lo and tinnitu. Linda may be a familiar face to many long-time patient he wa an audiologit with the practice from 1995 through 2004, before leaving to pend time raiing her children. A an active profeional, he ha continued to work a a contract audiologit, mot recently with the Veteran Adminitration here in Kana City. I have really enjoyed caring for the patient at the VA they have provided a wonderful ervice to our country and thi wa a great way for me to give back to the men and women in our military, Linda ay. But I am alo very excited to return to Aociated Audiologit. The practice alway put their patient firt, and that i conitent with my own peronal practice philoophy. It wa important to me to join an autonomou private practice. I feel good about being back at Aociated Audiologit and the excellent work we do here. My patient will now be friend and neighbor from the community in which I live, and I look forward to uing my kill and expertie to help them hear better. Linda currently i puruing her doctorate of audiology with A.T. Still Univerity. She earned her mater of art degree in audiology from the Univerity of Kana and her bachelor of cience degree in education from Pittburg State Univerity, Pittburg, Kan. She i a member of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Aociation; the Kana Speech-Language-Hearing Aociation; and the Kana City Society of Audiology. Linda reide in Olathe with her huband, Randy, and their three chool-age daughter. She enjoy pending time with her family, taking part in chool activitie with her children and being involved with her church. She alo i a runner and participate in local running event. To chedule an appointment with Linda, call our Overland Park clinic at ; or our Prairie Village clinic at Urgent Ear Clinic It never eem to fail! It after hour and your hearing aid top working. What can you do? Aociated Audiologit ha tarted a new Urgent Ear Clinic at it three Johnon County location to take care of you. We know that you rely on your hearing aid to communicate throughout the day, and we want to be able to provide you with prompt ervice, explain Tim Steele, Ph.D., FAAA, practice preident. We think the Urgent Ear Clinic will be a great reource for you. When you bring your hearing aid in for repair, one of our audiologit will viually inpect them to determine the ource of the problem. If the problem can be repaired in the clinic, we will take care of it the ame day. Urgent Ear Clinic hour are 11:30 a.m. to noon and 4 to 4:30 p.m. each day in the Overland Park, Shawnee Miion and Prairie Village clinic. Service are available on a firt come, firt erved bai. You can wait for the repair to be made, or leave it for pick up later in the day or next day. If the problem can t be reolved in the clinic, we will return it to the manufacturer for repair. We do have loaner hearing aid available at our clinic and if your hearing aid need to be ent to the manufacturer, we will dicu thi option with you. In mot cae, we can ae the problem, repair your hearing aid and get you back to your daily routine a quickly a poible, Dr. Steele ay. To expedite ervice, pleae call firt. For the Urgent Ear Clinic call: Overland Park, Shawnee Miion, Prairie Village, If you are a patient in our Leavenworth or Manhattan clinic, pleae call for an appointment before you bring your hearing aid in for repair. 5

6 Hearing Your Bet Hunting for Hearing Protection? The blat from a hotgun can exceed 140 decibel, cauing permanent hearing lo. Damage to your hearing occur when loud ound reach the inner ear and detroy the tiny hair cell lining thi fluid-filled chamber. Once thee hair cell are damaged, there i no treatment to repair them. Thi proce can occur from expoure to a ingle loud blat, or after year of overexpoure to gunfire. Becaue hearing lo i permanent, the bet treatment i prevention. In many cae, over-thecounter earplug and earmuff can protect your hearing when hunting or target practicing, but they alo block out the ound around you, or can interfere with your aim. We have many hunter who want to be able to hear environmental ound, uch a the wind blowing through the tree or game movement, explain Stacey Baldwin, Au.D., FAAA, enior audiologit with the practice. The hearing protection we offer provide that ituational awarene. It cutom-molded and hand-finihed jut for your ear. Aociated Audiologit offer both electronic and non-electronic filtered hunter protection. Thee cutom in-ear filter protect your hearing by compreing the high-impact ound of a firearm, while enhancing low-level peech that i impoible to hear with traditional earmuff or earplug. You can carry on a converation, detect game and hear your urrounding while till being protected from gunhot noie. For the bet fit, filtered hunter protection require a peronal conultation and cutom ear impreion with an audiologit. Price tart at $140 a pair. Call the clinic cloet to you to chedule an appointment for cutom hearing protection, or for more information. Enjoy the Sound of the Seaon You'll want to hear your bet for the third annual charity concert to benefit The Miion Project, a local non-profit organization helping young adult with diabilitie like Down yndrome and autim live and work on their own with minimal upport. The concert alo benefit Firt Down for Down Syndrome. Thi holiday concert feature the Texa Tenor and the Kana City Symphony. When: Friday, Dec. 13, 8 p.m. Where: Kauffman Center for the Performing Art, Helzberg Hall Join Aociated Audiologit, Inc. in upporting thi unique holiday concert! 6 The Texa Tenor For ticket information, viit or call

7 S T A F F N E W S Sam Bittel, Au.D., FAAA, Vetibular Program Director, recently lectured on the diagnoi and management of dizzine and diequilibrium in adult and children for the Heuer Hearing Intitute, Louiville, Ken. In addition, he ha recently been made an adjunct profeor in the Univerity of Kana Medical Center Neurology Department, where he lecture on a regular bai. He alo i teaching a doctoral-level coure on vetibular diorder at KU. Stacey Baldwin, Au.D., FAAA, enior audiologit and Clinical Sytem Manager, ha recently been featured on KCTV-5 with health reporter Carolyn Long dicuing hearing protection for muician. In addition, he wa interviewed by Meryl Lin McKean, Fox 4 health reporter, to addre the iue of hearing protection and the ound level at the Chief/Raider game, where fan et the world record for loudet tadium. Dana Jacobon, Au.D., FAAA, enior audiologit and Overland Park Manager, wa interviewed by Carolyn Long and featured on KCTV-5 regarding hearing protection and the noie level at the Chief game. She alo wa a featured preenter at the Kana Speech-Language-Hearing Aociation (KSHA) annual meeting. Her talk wa titled, Humanitarian Audiology, and focued on planning and developing outreach program dometically and internationally. Laura Flower, Au.D., FAAA, Tinnitu and Sound Senitivity Manager, alo wa a featured peaker at the KSHA meeting. Her preentation wa titled, Practical Application of Amplification in Managing Tinnitu Patient. Tim Steele, Ph.D., FAAA, preident, recently co-authored a chapter in the book, Introduction to Aural Rehabilitation, Second Edition, by Ray Hull. Dr. Steele co-author i Dr. Jack Katz and the chapter i titled, Introduction to Hearing Impairment and Hearing Diability. Aociated Audiologit preented two $250 cholarhip to audiology tudent at the KSHA meeting. Laina Burdiek and Kryta Beaver were the recipient. Both preented their reearch at a eion ponored by the practice. Laina i a tudent at Wichita State Univerity and Kryta i a tudent at the Univerity of Kana Medical Center. Congratulation to Traci Ring, enior audiologit, on recently earning her doctorate in audiology from the Univerity of Kana Medical Center. The title of her doctoral reearch project wa, Comparion of Protocol for Referring Patient to Rule Out Retrocochlear Pathology. The reearch wa conducted at Aociated Audiologit. She currently ee patient at our Shawnee Miion clinic, but over the year ha cared for patient in our former Olathe clinic a well. Hearing Your Bet i publihed regularly by Aociated Audiologit, Inc. All material are created by our audiologit olely for the education of our patient and referring phyician. Any reproduction mut be approved in writing by our editor by Aociated Audiologit, Inc. If you have comment or uggetion, pleae direct them to: Editor: Tim Steele, Ph.D., FAAA Contributor: Jim Wie, Traci Ring, David Nien, Larry Ruder, Stacey Baldwin, Laura Flower, Sam Bittel, Erica Smith, Dana Jacobon, Sam Gillepie, Tammy Gonzale, Suan Smittkamp and Linda Erickon, all Fellow of the American Academy of Audiology. Overland Park Foter St., Suite 220 Overland Park, KS Prairie Village 7301 Miion Rd., Suite 140 Prairie Village, KS Shawnee Miion 8800 W. 75th St., Suite 101 Shawnee Miion, KS Leavenworth 1001 Sixth Ave., Suite 105 Leavenworth, KS Manhattan 1133 College Ave., Building A, Suite 101A Manhattan, KS h e a r i n g y o u r b e t. c o m 7

8 PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO Kana City, MO Hearing Your Bet for Life hearingyourbet.com P.O. BOX Lenexa, KS Return Service Requeted Important information about hearing and balance health from your audiologit. Hearing Your Bet Figuring Your End-of-the-Year Medical Expene? Hearing aid uually qualify a medical expene if you itemize your deduction. Hearing aid alo are generally conidered qualified medical expene for flexible pending account. Inurance benefit for hearing aid often change at the beginning of a new calendar year. Make ure you are aware of any change your inurance plan may have related to poible hearing aid benefit before the year end. For complete information regarding the deductibility of hearing aid, qualified expenditure for your flexible pending account and your plan year end, we ugget you contact your tax advior and/or flexible pending plan adminitrator. Our taff i alo happy to provide product quotation and copie of receipt if needed. Call the office nearet you to chedule your end-of-the-year appointment today.