In this episode, Doug Leonard from Audiological Services of Iowa dives into the numerous benefits that come with choosing ASI for your hearing aid needs. From comprehensive service plans to annual hearing evaluations, Doug explains the value of their bundled model practice, which includes everything in the purchase price of the hearing aids.
SPEAKER 01 :
It's Sound Advice with audiologist Doug Leonard from ASI, Audiological Services of Iowa. Last week, Doug, we talked all about pricing of hearing aids and what you get for that price, but let's talk about all the other things that you get with ASI when you choose Audiological Services of Iowa as compared to somebody else. You get a lot of great service beyond just the hearing aid.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah. I mean, you think about it almost as a service plan. You know, we, I follow the bundled model of practice. So meaning when patients purchase hearing aids from us, what we do for them is included in the purchase price. There are practices that do an unbundled model too, and that's fine. You know, there are a lot of components to that service package basically. First and foremost, of course, our annual hearing evaluations. So it's really important, obviously, when we get a set of hearing aids for patients that we program them, they're prescriptive, you know, they are set specifically for that patient's hearing loss. you know, to amplify the sounds and the tones and the pitches and the volumes that they want to hear. So it's really important that you have a good diagnostic evaluation. And then we have them come back in once a year to reevaluate their hearing. to see if there's been a change in hearing. If there's a significant change, that's probably a medical issue, they need to go see a primary care provider or an ear, nose, and throat doctor. And if it's a gradual change, then we can reprogram the hearing aids for them.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah, and of course, you also provide preventative maintenance for the hearing aids themselves. You'll always look those over, make sure they're in great working shape.
SPEAKER 02 :
That's true. I mean, so we do an annual eval, you know, once a year. And then in between there, that six-month checkup is just a clean-in check. You know, it allows us to take a peek in their ears, monitor for wax buildup, check out the hearing aids for wax. You know, the biggest gremlin with hearing aids is earwax, plugging them up. You know, you also want to take a peek at the, if they're rechargeable, you know, the charging contacts, check out the rechargeable battery, look at the microphones. There are maintenance items that we can do for patients that allow the hearing aids to continue to work well for them so they don't have any issues.
SPEAKER 01 :
And again, if something does occur, they have an issue with it, if something breaks, you have loaners and you also do demos with hearing aids.
SPEAKER 02 :
That's right. Demos and loaners for sure. We hope if a patient does have a problem, most problems we can solve in-house. So we do a lot of in-house repairs. But sometimes we do have to send a hearing aid in to the manufacturer, and we have demos that we're able to give to patients to allow them to continue to hear. We don't want them to have problems, but if they do, we want them to miss that hearing aid because that means they're providing good value for them and they're missing out on their hearing. So we give them a loaner to use.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah. You also manage the warranty process and all of that. So again, you're not only getting a great quality product designed to work for your specific hearing needs, you get the follow-up service, all of it at ASI.
SPEAKER 02 :
You do. And the warranty component is important, John, because all the manufacturers, we have a three-year warranty. And the patient doesn't have to work directly with the manufacturer. Like some products, we handle that for them. We take care of all the sending it in and back and back and forth. So Yeah, we try to provide a service after the sale, basically.
SPEAKER 01 :
And that's always some of the worst problems for people is like having to deal with companies they're not familiar with. You guys are familiar with it. You're right there with it. So that's what you provide when you work with Audiological Services of Iowa. Now, Doug, what's the number here in case anybody has any questions? They want to set up a screening. They want to talk about their hearing. Yep, we'd love to see them. The number is 792-5933. They've been here for over 20 years, of course, and they're going to be here to help you. Audiological Services of Iowa with Doug Leonard.
