It’s staggering to consider the degree to which technology has progressed, even within the past several decades. Hearing aids, for instance, went from clunky, unwieldy boxes clamped to the side of one’s head to sleek, modern hardware equipped with everything from Bluetooth functionality to companion apps. And hearing aids aren’t the only hearing assistance technology to have grown more advanced.
Cochlear implants, too, have improved significantly and are now advanced enough to be beneficial to individuals with asymmetrical hearing loss. Moreover, because the majority of a cochlear implant’s components are housed externally, they can be upgraded with relative ease. Even people who received an implant many years ago can enjoy their benefits to the fullest.
Unsurprisingly, the evolution of hearing assistance tech has had a significant impact on audiology. For one, patients no longer need to visit an audiologist to readjust their device regularly. Instead, they can do so through a smartphone app, tweaking and modifying the settings to their own unique auditory needs.
By Ken Perez, vice president of healthcare policy and government affairs, Omnicell, Inc.
On July 9, President Joe Biden issued a wide-ranging executive order (EO), “Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy,” that is highly critical of big business and advocates policy and regulatory changes to spur competition in seven areas: labor markets, healthcare, transportation, agriculture, internet services, technology, and banking and consumer finance. The EO has been described as the centerpiece of a new Democratic Party emphasis on restraining the nation’s most powerful companies, bolstering and consolidating the federal government’s power.
Of course, as with all presidential EOs, the EO by itself does not impose new requirements on the business community; rather, federal agency-driven policy changes, formal rulemaking or passage of legislation by Congress are required. Moreover, an EO can be easily overturned by a new president, as Biden has done with several Trump-era EOs.
Healthcare Proposals
The EO tackles four areas in healthcare where the Biden administration contends that lack of competition increases prices and reduces access to quality care: prescription drug prices, hearing aids, hospitals, and health insurance. In accord with the status of the high cost of prescription drugs as the public’s top healthcare-related concern, three-fourths of the EO’s healthcare verbiage is devoted to this area, with only brief paragraphs addressing the other three. Here are the specific proposals in the EO for the four areas.
Can the new wave of smart hearing aids improve your quality of life? From intelligent hearing programs to artificial intelligence, we offer you to get acquainted with the most exciting developments that become the main trends in hearing aid technologies.
You may not be particularly interested in hearing aid technology, but since hearing loss can have a significant impact on later life, these gadgets can have a real potential impact on improving people’s quality of life.
And it seems that the developers understand the potential of the latest technologies for hearing aids.
Now audiologist supplies are developing, and more often, we see a significant shift in hearing aid technology as manufacturers move towards more basic technological features such as daily activity tracking, wireless capabilities, and artificial intelligence (AI) to improve speech intelligibility.
These advances in technology promise to make hearing aids more comfortable, intuitive, and effective.
The new hearing aid technology focuses on better sound quality.
The main reasons for not using hearing aids frequently were that they did not have enough effect on the quality of hearing (41%), and the background noise was too loud (32%).
You may have a logical question “What? Hearing aids don’t help your hearing? ». Of course, they help, but many nuances need to be taken into account when hearing replacement.
The new technology we see aims to improve these common hearing aid problems by focusing on improving sound quality, automatically adjusting your preferences to different scenarios, and minimizing noise, whistling, or distortion in the background.
AI-powered hearing aids with artificial intelligence that adapt to your lifestyle.
There is an application for smartphones based on artificial intelligence, which helps to personalize the operation of the hearing aid. It is paired with hearing aids.
The hearing aid collects and analyzes your hearing aid usage data and the environment in which it is used and then sends you real-time push messages with recommendations for customization.
Can the new wave of smart hearing aids improve your quality of life? From intelligent hearing programs to artificial intelligence, we offer you to get acquainted with the most exciting developments that become the main trends in hearing aid technologies.