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Signia Expert Series: Adapting your Practice to a New Generation of Consumers

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1.  Why is attracting Baby Boomers key to long term growth of hearing aid sales? Traditionalists are dwindling in numbers, whereas 10,000 Baby Boomers turn 65 every day Traditionalists have stopped purchasing hearing aids Baby Boomers have a greater incidence of hearing loss than Traditionalists Baby Boomers retire earlier than Traditionalists

2.  Which of the following practice methods are recommended for hearing care providers wishing to attract more Baby Boomers to their clinic? Offer online appointment scheduling and extended hours Offer remote hearing aid programming Offer the choice of bundled or unbundled products and services All of the above

3.  What actions are Baby Boomers likely to take prior to purchasing hearing aids? They are likely to go online to research topics such as hearing loss, hearing aids and pricing They are likely to read consumer reviews and recommendations They are likely to apply for hearing aid financing A & B

4.  What is the definition of managed care? A healthcare delivery system organized to managed cost, utilization and quality A process by which providers dispense hearing aids and counsel hearing aid wearers The steps a hearing care provider takes when programming hearing aids remotely All of the above

5.  Third-party managed care companies are an attractive partner for health plans wishing to offer hearing care benefits because they offer the following: Affordability, by controlling costs for the health plan and its members They handle the complexity and administration of hearing care benefit programs by processing claims, working with hearing aid manufacturers to ensure high quality/low cost hearing aid solutions and educating plan members They manage the provider network by ensuring network adequacy and handling provider contracting and credentialing All the above

6.  What are some ways that third-party managed care referrals offer value to hearing care providers? They provide a source of revenue with zero customer acquisition cost There is no cost of goods associated with hearing aid sales to these referrals Many are first time hearing aid wearers All of the above

7.  The number of Medicare Advantage enrollees who are enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan which offers a hearing aid benefit: Has increased from 47% in 2015 to 65% in 2017 and to 73% in 2018 Continues to decline each year Medicare Advantage plans do not offer hearing aid benefits None of the above

8.  How do you accurately compare the profit made from a retail hearing aid sale versus a third-party referral? Calculate the profit-per-patient-per-hour Compare the average selling price of a retail hearing aid sale versus the professional fee paid for a third-party referral Compare the total number of retail patients seen versus third-party referrals received None of the above

9.  Providers can no longer rely on Average Selling Price (ASP) and total number of hearing aids sold annually as strong indicators of the financial health of a retail clinic. Why? Competitive market pressures have reduced margins on hearing aid sales Providers are seeing a new mix of patients with not all patients paying 100% out-of-pocket for hearing aids It's too difficult to calculate ASP A & B

10.  Which of the following metrics are required to accurately calculate the economic value of third-party referrals? Average # visits per patient in the first 12 months after initial fitting, average number of minutes spent on hearing exam, fitting and follow-up visit Clinic overhead costs, staff salaries paid, patient hearing aid financing transaction fees paid Customer acquisition cost (CAC) and cost of goods sold (COGs) All of the above