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Karen Spaeth
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www.starkey.com
Telehealth update allows hearing professionals to serve more patients during social distancing
Eden Prairie, Minnesota (April 6, 2020) – In response to the ongoing challenges facing hearing care providers and their patients amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Starkey has made industry-leading telehealth technology available to even more hearing aid users. Effective immediately, Hearing Care Anywhere remote programming is now enabled across all technology tiers of Starkey’s Livio, Livio AI and Livio Edge AI hearing aids. The change allows more patients to receive care from their homes and gives hearing professionals the ability to conduct appointments despite social distancing.
“This is a very difficult time for the majority of us in the hearing industry,” said Starkey President Brandon Sawalich. “When we developed the Hearing Care Anywhere remote programming feature, we knew it would provide hearing healthcare providers with added convenience and efficiency, but we never imagined the important role it would play in such an unprecedented situation. We are so proud that our relentless dedication to staying on the cutting-edge of hearing technology is helping patients hear better at a time when clear communication is so critical.”
Through this latest update, even patients whose devices were not originally configured for remote programming are now able to access this important feature. Using the Thrive app, patients can send requests to their hearing providers, who are then able to make fine-tuning adjustments to optimize hearing aid performance remotely. This new measure enhances patient safety by reducing the need for an in-office visit.
“For many clinics, up to 30% of appointments are for minor adjustments,” said Starkey’s Chief Innovation Officer Dave Fabry, Ph.D. “In the past, clinicians needed to initiate remote programming via the Inspire software during face-to-face visits. Today, those adjustments can be handled remotely through Hearing Care Anywhere.”
“Since early on during the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve had to balance the dilemma of protecting our patients while ensuring their hearing devices are performing optimally,” said Terence Limb, Au.D., of Kirkland, Washington. “In the past, we didn’t always enable Hearing Care Anywhere in Inspire. This update enables me to continue to engage with patients during this difficult time. Moreover, it will change the way that we can better serve patient needs in the future.”
For more information on these new updates to Hearing Care Anywhere remote programming, please click here.
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About Starkey Starkey is a privately held, global hearing technology company headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. Founded by Bill Austin in 1967, Starkey is known for its innovative design, development and distribution of comprehensive digital hearing systems. Led today by President Brandon Sawalich, Starkey is the only American-owned provider of hearing technologies. The company has more than 6,000 employees, operates 26+ facilities and does business in more than 100 markets worldwide. Learn more at starkey.com.
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