Hearing Aids Dallas | Hearing Aids Houston
Posted on June 10, 2010
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Clients of Hearing Haven’s Carrollton Audiology clinic get a special treat every time they walk in the door. Andra Schulz is there to welcome them with a smile and the expertise that comes only with experience. Andra has worked in the hearing aid field for over 20 years. She understands the frustrations of hearing loss and the importance of quality products and compassionate service. Each client is treated as a long time friend and gets her full attention.
According to Bob Bare, president and founder of Hearing Haven LLC, “Our staff saw something very rare in Andra. She holds the unique combination of experience, personality, and concern for our clients that we look for in each of our employees. ”
The Carrollton clinic of Hearing Haven continues to grow. Their attention to detail and hands-on approach with their clients has rewarded them with exponential growth over the last few years. Their addition of Andra Schulz to their North Dallas clinic will be another stepping stone in achieving their goal of bringing hearing back to the lives of as many people as possible.
Hearing Haven’s uniqueness is that they have three professions available in one place, in both the North Dallas and the Houston clinics: audiologists, hearing aid dispensers, and hearing aid repair technicians, all on staff. There is a need for each specialty, and hearing aid clients do not have to choose one profession over the other. Hearing Haven’s dispensers can consult with one of the staff audiologists on hearing loss issues, and the audiologists can rely on the hearing aid expertise of the dispensers.
Contact Hearing Haven LLC for additional information at 888-412-3337, or visit HearingHaven.com
Affordable Hearing Aids
Posted on April 20, 2010
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The cost of hearing aids is a huge barrier for millions of people who want to experience better hearing.
If you or a loved one are looking for a cheaper solution to hearing aids than the industry standard of up to $7000, you need to look into the Hearing For Life program.
Find out how you can get affordable hearing aids by clicking that link. There is also a great article on the lower half of the page that answers the question I hear time and again, “Why are hearing aids so expensive?”
Check it out and start your journey to better hearing. The Hearing For Life program is breaking the sound barrier of high cost hearing.
Hearing Aid Repair
Posted on January 18, 2010
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Like all electronic devices, hearing aids eventually need maintenance. When that time comes, it can be a scary, and sometimes frustrating event.
Hearing aids aren’t simply another cool gadget that we all seem to be collecting with increasing frequency; they are an integral part of our toolbox to connect us with the people and things in life that we love and enjoy.
So, where do we turn at this critical juncture?
There are two options when you need to get your hearing aid repaired. Let’s take a look at the first, and most common one.
1. Take it to your local dealer or audiologist
If it is a simple problem, such as the speaker plugged with wax or a broken battery door, they may be able to fix it there. If it cannot be repaired there, they may recommend one of the following three choices:
a) Buy a new set of hearing aids.
This is what their business is. This may or may not be in your best interest and should be carefully discussed with a trusted provider.
b) Send it back to the original manufacturer.
This is sometimes the best solution, especially if still under the manufacturer’s warranty. However, the cost can be as high as $350, or even more, PER hearing aid.
Unfortunately, many manufacturers only repair their own hearing aids for a period of 5 to 7 years, after which they will no longer fix them. This reduces the costs of keeping parts inventory – as well as a way to encourage you to buy new hearing aids!
c) Send it to an independent repair lab
This can be good or bad, depending on which repair lab they use. A “budget” repair lab gives them a great wholesale price, but often gets used parts from salvage hearing aids, and hires inexperienced technicians. Another problem is that some of the large, well known repair labs often used by hearing aid dealers pay their technicians just a few dollars per repair at a “piece work” rate, encouraging them to quickly repair as many hearing aids as they can per day.
2. Send it directly to the repair lab of your choice
If your local hearing aid dispenser cannot get your hearing aid working at their store, you may be better off making your own choice of where to send it. This gives you several advantages:
a) You can research and locate a repair lab you feel comfortable with.
b) You can get your repair done for less by avoiding the retail mark-up.
c) You can ship your hearing aid to us at Hearing Haven. Our repair technicians have many years experience with multiple brands, and have been factory trained. Every Hearing Haven technician is paid a well-deserved hourly rate, so there is no pressure to rush to complete a job. In fact, since our mission is to provide a higher quality of life through better hearing, each repair includes preventative maintenance steps to insure a longer life of the hearing aid.
Visit HearingHaven.com for more information on our hearing aid repair service.
Monthly Hearing Aid Plan Announced for Houston
Posted on December 15, 2009
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Bob Bare Hearing Aids
The cost of hearing aids has been brought into reach for many Houstonians with the announcement by Hearing Haven, LLC of a new subscription based hearing plan. Those who would benefit by hearing better on the job, and want to improve communications and relationships with family and friends by adding clarity to their hearing, can obtain those benefits with a new program called Hearing for Life.
Similar to getting a cell phone, subscribers pay an activation fee and a monthly subscription fee. They receive major brand hearing aids to fit their lifestyle needs, with monthly fees from $77.
Group coverage is also available for organizations and employers who wish to subscribe to the group benefit plan covering 10 or more persons. Members of a group plan receive a discounted activation fee, and receive all the other benefits, such as new hearing aids every 48 months.
Hearing Haven currently has offices on Bellaire Drive in Houston, as well as in Carrollton and Rockwall, Texas. For more information or for appointments you can call 888-412-3337.
Medicare and most traditional insurance companies do not pay for hearing aids, which can cost up to $7000 a set, putting them out of the reach of many consumers. Hearing Haven, LLC believes that by adding the “Hearing Aid Benefit” plan to a group’s benefit package, members of associations and organizations will receive great benefits in an affordable manner.
The plan can be offered in several ways, or customized as needed. There is no cost to add the Hearing Aid coverage to a benefit plan, and charges are incurred only by those members receiving digital hearing aids.
Individuals can also subscribe to the Hearing For Life Program. In addition to hearing aids, they would receive free hearing aid batteries, free follow-up visits, and free adjustments. Repairs and a one-time loss and damage coverage are also included, with the length of the warranty determined by the manufacturer.
Every 48 months those who renew the Hearing for Life program become eligible to receive new hearing aids. The benefit plan is “portable”, and can be maintained by the individual if they change jobs or move.
The Hearing for Life program is administered for Hearing Haven LLC by New Perceptions in Hearing, of Irving Texas. For additional information, to schedule a speaker for your group, or for an appointment for a free hearing test, contact Hearing Haven LLC at 888-412-3337, or visit http://www.hearinghaven.comfor additional contact information.
Hearing Aid Group Benefit Plan Announced for Texas
Posted on December 14, 2009
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Bob Bare
Employers, Associations, and groups of ten or more are being alerted to the new “Hearing Aid Benefit” plan being offered by Hearing Haven LLC in Texas. This program allows organizations to offer their members hearing aid coverage. There is no up-front investment to join.
Persons who wish to hear more clearly in certain situations and improve communication challenges by the use of digital hearing aids are able to do so by joining the plan, which allows adding hearing instruments to a benefit package within reach of every group.
Medicare and most traditional insurance companies do not pay for hearing aids, which can cost up to $7000 a set, putting them out of the reach of many consumers. Hearing Haven, LLC believes that by adding the “Hearing Aid Benefit” plan to a group’s benefit package, members of associations and organizations will receive great benefits in an affordable manner.
The plan can be offered in several ways, or customized as needed to fit any need. There is no cost to add the Hearing Aid coverage to a benefit plan, and charges are incurred only by those members receiving digital hearing aids.
Plan C, which is no cost to the employer or group, allows members to receive free hearing evaluations and checkups. If Hearing Instruments would be beneficial and are desired by the person with a hearing loss, they receive a discounted activation fee as a group member, to be fit with hearing aid technology appropriate to their hearing.
Plan B, which is now offered by the City of Rockwall, Texas to their employees, allows the employer or group to pay half of the activation fee, and one half of each monthly subscription, so that the investment is shared equally by the employees and the employer.
Plan A, is for employers, or assisted living and retirement communities, who wish to offer full coverage for hearing aids to their group. They pay the activation fee and 100% of the monthly subscription fee, but only for those participants that actually are fit with hearing aids.
Custom Plans are also available, for groups that want to offer members the benefits of receiving hearing assistance, and have special requirements.
After the group benefit discount, the cost is typically $500 to $1000 for the activation fee, and then $77 or $97 per month. These fees are only for those members who choose to acquire hearing assistance.
In addition to the hearing aid benefit plan, the member would receive free hearing aid batteries, free follow-up visits, and free adjustments. Repairs and a one-time loss and damage coverage are also included, with the length of the warranty determined by the manufacturer. A variety of major manufacturers are being offered.
Every 48 months, under the Hearing Aid Benefit, those who renew their coverage become eligible to receive new hearing aids. The benefit plan is “portable”, and can be maintained by the individual if they change jobs or move.
The group hearing aid benefit plan is administered for Hearing Haven LLC by New Perceptions in Hearing, of Irving Texas. For additional information and to answer your questions about receiving the benefits of hearing aid coverage, contact Hearing Haven LLC at 888-412-3337, or visit www.HearingHaven.com for additional contact information.
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/12/prweb3342294.htm
http://www.NewsReleaseWire.com/29841
Hearing Aid Feedback Home Remedies
Posted on October 23, 2009
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If you or a family member wears a hearing aid that has a feedback (whistling or chirping noise) problem, it can not only impair the users ability to hear, but also for those around them.
It can soon develop into an emotional distress that if not taken care of, may lead to isolation.
There are different cause for feedback, but the most common one is the hearing aid mold, or shell, not fitting properly. Here are some ways you can check for fit problems and possibly fix them too:
a) Test for a fit problem by pressing the hearing aid tighter into your ear with your finger or the eraser end of a pencil (make sure you don’t cover the microphone. If pressing it in or adjusting the angle stops the feedback, this indicates a fit problem. Although, if the feedback does not stop, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it is not a fit problem.
b) Also try plugging the vent temporarily with putty or tape. If this helps, the fit may be a problem.
c) Try putting Keri lotion or Vaseline around the canal of the hearing aid before inserting it. If it is a small gap, this sometimes helps.
d) Old time hearing aid dispensers used to put a coating of clear finger nail polish on the canal portion of hearing aids to make them fit slightly snugger.
e) An ugly, but effective solution for very loose hearing aids is “Poligrip-comfort seal strips”. If it doesn’t work, they can be removed.
f) Try Comply Soft Wraps. The Comply Soft Wrap is a strip of foam with an adhesive backing to stick onto hearing aids or ear molds. It reduces feedback and improves retention for hearing aids that are too loose.
g) Sometimes the best solution is getting a new ear mold or shell made. Check availability and prices locally for this, or find a hearing aid repair lab online. If you do go the online route, you might save money by getting an impression kit online also, rather than going local. HOWEVER, it is always the safest option to have your local professional take the impression and there are risks involved with taking your own. Plus, you will probably get a higher quality impression from an audiologist.
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Find the full article here:
Whistling Hearing Aids – How to Stop the Embarrassment
Should I buy cheap or expensive hearing aids?
Posted on October 12, 2009
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Cheap or Expensive Hearing Aids?
How do you prevent yourself from spending too much money on hearing aids, and getting more technology than you need? Will I get the most benefit if I buy cheap or expensive hearing aids?
I’ve been in the hearing aid industry over 25 years now, and I am amazed at the wide spread of technologies available, costing anywhere from $14.95 for a cheap amplifier that can harm your hearing, to over $10,000 in some places for a set of sophisticated digital hearing aids.
I won’t even spend the time going into why you shouldn’t risk what’s left of your hearing on the $14.95 amplifier that could damage your hearing. Fortunately those probably won’t work for more than a few weeks, and most people wouldn’t use something so large, ugly, noisy, and poorly made.
I do want to give you some tips on how to save investing more than you need to on hearing aids. Many people can get almost as much benefit from a set of hearing aids that cost half or even less than half of the most expensive brands.
Do These before You Even Get a Hearing Test
Only “buy” as much as you need. How do you determine that? Sit down and write a list of your goals: what do you want hearing aids to do for you? If what you are looking for is more than you can expect, an honest hearing aid dispenser or audiologist should be able to point that out to you.
For example, an unrealistic expectation might be: “I want to hear what my children are whispering about me in the next room, while I sit in front of the television with it turned up loud”. Sorry, although you might be amazed at some things that today’s digital hearing instruments can do, they aren’t miraculous!
Here are some goals that you might write down:
• I want to be able to listen to television at the same volume level my spouse or my children prefer.
• I’d like to carry on a normal conversation at the breakfast table without asking someone to repeat themselves.
• I’d like to be able to understand more of what I am currently missing in Sunday school and church.
• I need to be able to talk to someone while driving the car.
• I’d like to be able to understand most conversations on the telephone.
• I want to be able to understand someone across the table from me at a restaurant.
• I need to hear my professor, even when the only seat left is in the back of the auditorium.
• I’m a taxi driver, and I want to focus on voices coming from the back seat, more than any other direction.
• I golf several times each week, and I want to hear my golfing buddies without being bothered by wind noise.
• I’m a jet aircraft mechanic, and I need to be able to move from quiet to extremely noisy settings without having to change a volume control.
• I’m a child therapist, and I need to hear and understand very soft whispers and statements that my troubled children make during play therapy, because I don’t want to ask them to repeat what they just revealed.
• I’m a high level corporate executive, and I need to focus my hearing on only the person in front of me during business social events, and ignore all other sounds around me.
• I’m into competition skeet shooting, and need to hear when someone says “pull”, and yet not be deafened by my shotgun a fraction of a second later.
As you noticed, I got into some specific requests that we have been presented with, and were able to find solutions to, but it’s unlikely that you or any one person would need to have each and every one of those situations addressed.
Only “buy” the solutions you need. If you almost always stay indoors, and spend most of your time with only one person at a time, you can avoid paying for technology that reduces wind noise. If you are always facing the person you are speaking with, you don’t need technology that focuses directional microphones behind you, like the taxi driver does.
If you already know your hearing goals, you can ask your hearing aid provider, if you drop down a technology level or two, if your goals will still be met. One person may need a $7000 set of multi-memory hearing aids, with a remote control built into a wristwatch, but you may meet your own goals with something with half of that investment!
You might also consider the Hearing for Life Plan, a company that I founded in Texas, now being offered nationwide. After an activation fee, which varies by the technology level, you pay a monthly subscription fee of $77 to $117 per month. Active subscribers receive new hearing aids every 48 months, just by renewing their membership. More details can be found at www.HearingAidsForLife.com.
If you have ways you’ve discovered to save money on hearing aids, or ideas and questions you’d like me to write about, please contact me at suggestions@hearinghaven.com. I appreciate you reading my thoughts, but I also would like to hear yours!
Bob Bare
http://www.HearingHaven.com/
http://www.HearingAidsForLife.com/
Hearing Aid Brands and Pricing
Posted on October 5, 2009
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Recently, someone pointed out the fact that I never did a listing of specific brands of hearing aids that were the same or almost the same, as I referred to in the last letter. So here it is, even though I will be sticking my neck out on the line! This is a portion of a response that I sent by email to a newsletter subscriber, mentioning specific brands and pricing comparisons:
“There are a lot of good brands, and some are better than others, but because of competition, most of the “respected” manufacturers do have good technology. But they are kind of like cars – each brand has its “Chevette”, it’s “Malibu”, and it’s “Corvette”. So even though someone tells you “Siemens is the best brand”, that may not be true – especially if you compare Siemens entry level “Chevette” to some other brand’s “top of the line” aid.
Here is something to save you money, whenever you do buy a hearing aid(s). Lots of brands own several different companies. (Or at least utilize the same circuitry). For example:
Beltone $$$ ——– GN Resound $$ ———– Interton $
NuEar $$$ ——— Starkey $$ ————— MicroTech $
Miracle Ear $$$ —– Siemens $$ —————–Rexton $
Phonak $$$ ———Unitron $$
Notice the ratings of $$$ for more expensive, $$ for mid priced, and $ for lower average costs. I did over-generalize to make a point here, and that is that many times a franchised or “name brand” hearing aid can be purchased under a different name at lower cost.
This is all the more reason to pay attention to the person and the local company you are working with. I would rather find someone I feel I can trust to explain a technology I am unfamiliar with, than to try to become an expert myself. You would do well to find an expert you feel you can trust.
Referrals are a good place to start, when looking for a credible business. I am working with the national release of “New Perceptions in Hearing”, which is making hearing aids available on a cell phone rate plan. We are relying on referrals and a screening processes to develop our list of dispensers and audiologists that we will invite to join us in the new program. You can help me.
If you have done business with someone you consider to be an excellent audiologist and/or dispenser, please let us know about them at suggestions@hearinghaven.com. I’d love to compile a list of “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” practices. Just let me know the Business Name, City, State, name of the audiologist/hearing aid dispenser and the reasons you would or wouldn’t recommend them. This way, if anyone ever needs a referral in your area, I can share the “good” names, but I imagine I will probably not tell anyone who the “bad apples” are!
Thank you for your time. Have a blessed day. We do have our new website up now. Visit http://www.hearingaidsforlife.com and let me know what you think!
Bob Bare
http://www.HearingHaven.com/
http://www.HearingAidsForLife.com/
Pay Plan Hearing Aids
Posted on September 24, 2009
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The Wonderful News!!
Posted on September 24, 2009
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One of my first experiences with how embarrassing a hearing loss can be to someone was over 25 years ago. At the time I was working as a hearing aids specialist in a community in Oregon. One day the pastor of a church in a small town nearby that was known for its local lumber mill came in asking for help.
The pastor came by himself, which is unusual. Many times men his age (mid 50’s to early 60’s) come unwillingly, practically led in by a wife or family member, tired of repeating things! In this case, the pastor had suffered one of those acutely embarrassing moments that motivated him to take action.
The previous Sunday, as was typical in his denomination, the pastor had announced that now was the time to share any praise reports, or something they felt was an answer to prayer. He asked anyone that wanted, to stand and share with the congregation their good report.
There were always new and unexpected bits of trivia for the congregants to hear in this part of the service. After several people had shared their “good reports”, one lady who had a soft voice stood and said “I know this isn’t a praise report, but I really need your prayers and support. My husband has left me and the children this week and moved out, and I don’t know what to do…”
The pastor, who had worked in the local lumber mill for quite a few years and suffered from a severe high frequency hearing loss, had no idea what she had just said, but assumed it was another praise report and responded, “Well praise the Lord, isn’t that wonderful news!”
The pastor’s wife tried to mitigate the damage by jumping up and saying “Pastor, I don’t think you heard what she said. She said…. “(And repeated it). Of course, that helped for the moment, but the incident was soon told to everyone who lived in the entire community. Now, twenty five or more years later, it is still being retold! I did omit names to protect the embarrassed, but I wanted to illustrate how one misunderstanding caused by a hearing impairment can create havoc!
If you have an interesting or humorous experience to relate, send me an email. We can put together a collection of “You heard What?!” stories. Send your anecdote to suggestions@hearinghaven.com
Fortunately, many of those situations can be prevented by foresight and working to rehabilitate your hearing and understanding. If it’s been a while since you’ve had a well conducted hearing evaluation, consider scheduling one soon. Try to get a copy of your hearing test for your records, so you can save it for comparisons to a future test, or for a second opinion.
Thanks for sharing a bit of your time with me. Until next time, have a pleasant and blessed day!
Bob Bare
http://www.HearingHaven.com
http://www.HearingAidsForLife.com
http://www.expertclick.com/19-3158
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