Getting these pesky settings just right!

Hearing Aids
#209

Haha, this is going off the rails. That was my back-of-the-napkin math on what our starting salary would be if Baltazard had thought that my lower hourly bracket for salary was actually for the half-hour.

But all that being said, as much as I am NOT closely involved with my running of the business and all the numbers that go into that, so all my answers are estimates and hypotheticals, I am generally happy for more transparency. I think lack of transparency and miscommunication is what creates anger and frustration. Hearing aids are EXPENSIVE. And so on one side the consumer thinks that maybe it’s because audiologists are sleeping on bags of money and on the other side sometimes I look at things and wonder how my clinic is still even in business and then that can lead to evil-eyeballing eachother. Maybe this will just lead us to come together to cast the evil-eyeball at the manufacturers instead, but I am hesitant to do that because I have no clue what their costs are and wonder whether, if they laid it all out, I’d go, “Oh, yes, that does seem reasonable actually.” And then scratch my head about where the best place to put pressure is to try to bring costs down.

This forum actually seems like a tremendously powerful way to address cost issues, in some ways. A lot of the information I find myself communicating about hearing function or communication barriers or hearing aids are the sorts of things that I am also frequently trying to communicate with my patients directly in a one-on-one clinical situation, except here it is going out to many more people at once and benefitting from the input of everyone. I’m here for free, which of course makes the cost difference infinite, but obviously I derive my own rewards from it or I’d be elsewhere.

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#210

My ophthalmologist (and the best eye surgeon in town) just built himself a nice new clinic in a light industrial park. I’m recovering from shingles in the eye. His location had zero influence on my diagnosis and treatment.

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#211

But you were referred to him directly, weren’t you?

I have often thought the same thing. But. Hearing clinics occupy some weird space in between medical clinics and . . . I don’t know, clothing shops. The amount of business we get from walk-ins who just saw us while out wandering about is amazingly high. People sit on hearing loss for ages and ages thinking, “I should probably do something about this but right now I have other things to do.” Sometimes apparently just seeing a clinic and thinking, “Oh, I guess I could go ask” is a surprisingly big deal.

Our pediatrics are nearly all referral, however. I often think that we could split them off and put them in some dim industrial park spot with the most bog-standard medical floors and ceilings and it would be fine. Except the kids might cry more. :confused:

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#212

Also, sorry about the shingles. That sucks.

#213

@Neville: Frankly, this aspect of it never occurred to me, since my primary referrer is MrsSpudgunner. (And, @Neville - if Herself®️ sez you need to see the audiologist, you see the audiologist.)

[Addendum: If you’re gonna get shingles, don’t get it in your EYE!]

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#214

The point is it can have big influence on his bottom line. Ask any vendor why their prices are high and rent will be near the top of their list. If we want lower prices then we should care if the vendors are doing their best to keep expenses down. For example, I have a macular hole in one eye and do some CAD modelling so I splurged for a large, quality PC monitor. In a clinic I visited the receptionist had a nicer monitor than mine. I’d love to see the books for some of these places.

Related anecdote - some years ago in Ontario my dad needed a wheelchair. Gov subsidizes that, but end result was that patient share of the cost was about the same as retail price if I shopped online. So, fat in the system that could be easily fixed. However, I had a frank chat with the owner of a store that sold disability devices including wheelchairs. He claimed (and I believed him) that without the gravy profit from the chairs he wouldn’t be able to make it.

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#215

Yes, that was my point. His location is much cheaper than retail space and has no impact on the quality of my care.

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#216

Kind of a flip side of this: It’s likely surprising to some on the forum that a hearing aid purchase could be such a casual purchase. People are different. For some purchasing a car is a well researched endeavor. For others it may just involve having a car catch one’s eye as one drives by the lot. How we purchase hearing aids likely varies just as much.

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#217

Oof. So sorry. I had a brief case on the top of my head about three years ago. The retrovirals were prescribed right away and whacked it down. I thought I’d burnt the top of my head or something. I can’t imagine it in my eye. Best wishes for fast and full healing!

WH

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#218

Thank you. I waited 10 days before going to the ER. Too late for antiviral drugs to be effective. Shingles were confined to the lower eyelid right up to and including the eyelashes. I guess this is a pretty rare spot for it to express itself. I understand that if it gets into the eyeball itself, you can pretty well kiss the vision in that eye goodbye. The doctors were worried for a while that my virus was going to jump over from the margin of the lower eyelid.

Thanks for your kind wishes.

[Addendum: Sorry, @rogerinshoreham , I realize it’s off-topic, but the guy wished me well … ]

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#219

@rogerinshoreham: Oy! Rog! You haven’t jumped ship, have you?

Gee Whillikers, @Zebras !

:ship: :canoe: Man Overboard! 🛟 :helicopter:

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#220

Don’t worry, still here in the most un-proprietorial way I can manage.
You carry on fellars, as they say in the perfume ad ‘because you’re worth it’.
I’m off to a carol service this afternoon. That’ll put me in a good mood for the rest of the week.
Rog

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#221

@rogerinshoreham: It’s good to hear from you. You have some interesting and practical ideas that I have already implemented in my own logbook (recording specific sounds/words). I like your community spirit, too, so I apologize if my “Wild West” ways made it seem that I was being grossly disrespectful of you.

I will be putting up my reindeer nets and elf traps this afternoon, so I shall be in fine fettle, also.

:chair::chair::chair: (as @kevels55 would sign off with)

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#222

No problem at all Jim and no need to apologise. Not one bit.
If it all wobbles off topic and that’s the culture here that’s fine. My comment a few days ago was only prompted by the thought that someone looking for stuff related to the original question might be a bit puzzled by where the conversation is now.
It’s all interesting and entertaining. Keep up the good work.
Rog

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#223

@rogerinshoreham: Well, as I said - I wouldn’t want to drive away a valuable new member by being excessively boorish. (Being a gunner, a little boorishness is inevitable and, perhaps, even desirable?)

[Addendum: Note, Rog, how members like @kevels55, ever the Gentleman, spring instantly to my defence, saying things like "You, boorish, Spud? Not for a minute! Aye! Never!!] [… if he weren’t away at a pool tournament and, therefore, unavailable.]

:pleading_face:

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#224

@Neville Where are you in Canada . I need you!

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#225

Pool tournament! The wet kind or the smooth green variety?
As a competitor or a spectator?
I haven’t asked until now but where did the spud thing come from. I did once have a spud gun but have no idea where it went.

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#226

@kevels55 is an 8-ball shark, and a competitor;

I am a retired artillery officer. My face looks like a potato so the bombardiers used to call me “Spud” [Addendum: But not to my face …]

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#227

Funny enough Jim, in Deaf culture, every person has a byname, usually it’s a visual description of how you look, some of these bynames are extremely unflattering :rofl: it’s done because you’re immediately aware of whom they’re talking about, and no insult is intended… For instance my wife Elspeth has a large mole near her nose, they way sign E plus point to the mole, and all would know who the meant… Cheers Kev :wink:

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#228

@kevels55: So, Kev, what is “potato” in sign language? (Never mind - I’ll Google it!).

:+1:t2::ballot_box_with_check: Got it!

(PS: Did you know you can flag yourself for being off-topic? I’ve tried it, and it works!)

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