I’m considering purchasing equipment for my office and would like some user feedback from all of you verifying your hearing instrument fittings. We presently fit about 90% of Starkey products and like the on-board REM feature, but am looking for something a bit more in depth and useful with all products. So, I’m looking at the Verifit. Please tell me why you love or hate it and everything in between. Thanks!
Hi
Two weeks ago, I was fitted for the first time with Verifit, and my experience was fantastic. All adjustments were a result of an objective evalution, and in each step I could hear the sound improving.
I think it is much fun for audiologists to use equipment like this. I would invest in it, and I am in no doubt that such investment will pay itself back soon.
Arni… are you an experienced hearing aid user? Please tell me more about how the verifit improved your fitting experience. I think more and more people are expecting more from their hearing aids and now we have equipment and science available to do a better job on our end as the fitter. Plus, the audiology industry is trending towards verification for good reason… better outcomes. Also, from an angle of getting an edge over the competition, if I were shopping for a hearing aid I would be more inclined to do business with someone who verified every fitting… anyone else?
I’m an audiologist who uses the Verifit for virtually every hearing aid fitting, and I wouldn’t consider fitting hearing aids without it. There’s simply no other way to know (objectively) what a given hearing aid is actually doing in a given patient’s ear. As far as probe microphone equipment, I think the Verifit really is considered the premier tool. There’s very little not to like about it. It’s flexible, easy to use, has comprehensive test availability, can do test box verification of advanced features (noise reduction, directionality, etc.) … should I go on?
Yes, I have used hearing aids for 30 years. My hearing aids are Widex Fusion, but I could not use them after careful fitting with the in-situ audiogram (sensogram).
Verifit showed that the amplification was nearly 10 dB too high around 750Hz, and after it was fixed voices sounded much more intelligible.
There were also other smaller problems that were fixed and voices got clearer after each adjustment.
My experience is also that the audiogram should be measured accurately, otherwise Verifit will lead to bad results. Many audiologist are using bad methods in the audiometry, and some are even using screening methods (audiogram value is determined at the first response), and I have seen errors up to 20dB.
Anyone knows how much does it cost???
In Europe it costs approx. 10.000€ without VAT
Having a Verifit in your clinic and using it with every fitting will lead to happier patients. My experience has been 100% positive. There is also a lower cost unit from Audioscan called the Axiom. Info can be found here : http://www.audioscan.com/webpages/Axiom/axiomhome.html
I have used the Axiom and it is also an excellent verification tool but you give up a bundle of features and a monitor or wall mounted flat screen TV has to be obtained.