Ask the Experts | Bone Conduction Implants/Aids | Best Practice Guidelines for Bone-Anchored Hearing Solutions Best Practice Guidelines for Bone-Anchored Hearing Solutions Ravi Sockalingam, PhD July 9, 2012 Print Question The number of patients I see who are candidates for bone-anchored technology seems to be increasing. Are there any best-practice guidelines that I can reference? Answer Everyone recognizes the need for a best-practice guideline for bone-anchored solutions. If we are to develop a best-practice guideline, the guideline has to be driven by the audiologic community and a professional association such as the American Academy of Audiology (AAA). The industry should not be the driver of certain issues.Recently there has been some action on this issue. Dr. Michael Valente approached AAA and the Academy has decided to move this forward by setting up a Task Force, chaired by Dr. Valente. The Board at AAA will ask the Chair to appoint stakeholders to the Task Force who will then work on developing a Best-Practice Guideline for bone-anchored solutions. There is a hope that there will be a guideline for adults and another one for children. These guidelines will be peer-reviewed;the guidelines will go through an internal review within the AAA and then through an external review involving the membership of AAA. Once the guidelines have been reviewed and approved, they will be published as AAA guidelines. That process has been initiated, and we are fortunate to have AAA take it to the next stage.For more information about Oticon Medical, visit www.oticonmedical.com or the Oticon Medical web channel on AudiologyOnline. Dr. Ravi Sockalingam is the director of clinical research and professional relations for Oticon Medical LLC. A native of Singapore, he completed his training in speech pathology and audiology at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia where he also received his PhD in Audiology. As a full time faculty in audiology he had taught and undertaken research in various areas of audiology in Australia, Israel, Canada, China, New Zealand. Prior to joining Oticon Medical LLC in Dec 2010, he was the senior audiologist and manager of audiology communications at Oticon's international headquarters in Smorum, Denmark for three years. Ravi Sockalingam, PhD Director of Clinical Research and Professional Relations, Oticon Medical Related Courses Presenter Ravi Sockalingam, PhD Bone Anchored Hearing Systems: Current Developments and Challenges [Recorded Course] Course: #20328 CEUs/Hours Offered: AAA/0.1 Intermediate; ACAud/1.0; AHIP/1.0; BAA/1.0; CAA/1.0; CASLPA/1.0; Calif. HADB/1.0 Hearing Aid Related; IHS/1.0; Kansas DHE, LTS-S0035/1.0 Cost: Free to View This course we will examine the basics of a bone anchored hearing system: the candidacy criteria, the benefits they bring to patients who use them, and recent advances in design and technology of the system. The need for evidence based practice in terms of patient selection and evaluation, counseling and education, outcome measurement and verification will also be discussed. Course Details Presenter Teri Sinopoli, MA, FAAA, CCC-A Oticon Medical: Introduction to the Ponto Bone Anchored System [Recorded Course] Course: #19805 CEUs/Hours Offered: AAA/0.1 Intermediate; ACAud/1.0; BAA/1.0; CAA/1.0; CASLPA/1.0; Calif. HADB/1.0 Hearing Aid Related; IHS/1.0; Kansas DHE, LTS-S0035/1.0 Cost: Free to View This course will introduce Oticon Medical's Ponto Bone Anchored System by describing the surgical procedure, and providing an overview of patient indications, Oticon Medical's expertise in hearing technology, and the Ponto product line. It will also provide an overview of the general concepts of osseointegration. Course Details Presenters Justin Pfeiffer Ravi Sockalingam, PhD Audiological Considerations of the Ponto Bone Anchored Hearing System Before and After Surgery [Recorded Course] Course: #20799 CEUs/Hours Offered: AAA/0.1 Intermediate; ACAud/1.0; ASHA/0.1 Intermediate, Professional; BAA/1.0; CAA/1.0; CASLPA/1.0; IHS/1.0; Kansas DHE, LTS-S0035/1.0 Cost: Free to View This course will take the audience through the pre and post implantation stages of a bone anchored hearing system. It will discuss outcome measurements and presenting options to patients before surgery, and monitoring and evaluating audiological and non audiological outcomes following surgery. Course Details Presenter Carrie Hart Reimbursement and Bone Anchored Systems [Recorded Course] Course: #22246 CEUs/Hours Offered: AAA/0.1 Intermediate; ACAud/1.0; ASHA/0.1 Intermediate, Related; BAA/1.0; CAA/1.0; CASLPA/1.0; IHS/1.0 Cost: Free to View This presentation will focus on the fundamentals of reimbursement: coding, coverage and payment as they apply to bone anchored hearing systems. Special focus will be on the applicable reimbursement rates under the Medicare program. Course Details Presenters Laura Phelps, MS Teri Sinopoli, MA, FAAA, CCC-A Oticon Medical: Using Genie Medical and Clinical Considerations [Recorded Course] Course: #20171 CEUs/Hours Offered: AAA/0.1 Intermediate; ACAud/0.1; AHIP/1.0; BAA/1.0; CAA/1.0; Calif. HADB/1.0 Hearing Aid Related; IHS/1.0; Kansas DHE, LTS-S0035/1.0 Cost: Free to View The course will be a didactic overview of the Ponto Bone Anchored System fitting and programming system, Genie Medical 2011.1. All aspects of the software will be described. There will also be patient case studies presented. Course Details
