Medicare’s Message to Audiologists: Diagnose, Manage, Treat, and Prevent Hearing and Balance Disorders

Date: September 22, 2020, 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM Eastern Time

Presenters: Ian M. Windmill, PhD and Barry A. Freeman, PhD

CEUs: 0.1 AAA/Tier 1 CEUs

Description: A key to the future success of audiologists will be the ability to respond to increased demand for audiology services in an efficient and cost-effective manner. A review of data provided by CMS offers insights to better understand the machinations of Medicare and the future role of audiologists when providing care to Medicare beneficiaries. This presentation will cover payment trends, future payment possibilities, implications for direct access, chronic conditions and co-morbidities associated with audiology services being tracked by CMS.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify payment trends for audiology services from Medicare.
• Define the chronic conditions and comorbidities most often associated with Medicare patients in your practice and strategies to monitor their audiologic needs.
• Connect contemporary best practices in audiology with the economic realities of managing Medicare beneficiaries.

Ian M. Windmill, PhD

Dr. Windmill received his Bachelor’s, Master’s and Ph.D. degrees in Audiology from the Florida State University. He currently serves as the Clinical Director of Audiology at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and is a Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. From 1983 until 2008, he was director of academic, clinical and research programs of the Division of Audiology in the Department of Surgery at the University of Louisville School of Medicine where he developed and implemented the third Doctor of Audiology degree program in the country. While there he was also partner in University Surgical Associates, a 50-doctor multi-specialty surgical group, where he was elected both secretary and treasurer. From 2009 through 2014, he served as Chief of the Division of Communicative Sciences in the Department of Otolaryngology and Communicative Sciences at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, where he oversaw the clinical and research programs for both audiology and speech-language pathology services. Dr. Windmill is a past-President of the American Academy of Audiology. He was a member of the Board of Governors of the American Board of Audiology, and is past Chair of the Board of Directors of the Accreditation Commission for Audiology Education. In 2006, Dr. Windmill won the Larry Mauldin Award for Excellence in Education in the Hearing Healthcare Professions.

Barry A. Freeman, PhD

Barry A. Freeman, Ph.D. is President of Audiology Consultants, Inc., in Parkland, Florida. Until his recent attempt at retirement, he was V.P. of Business Development at ZPower LLC. Dr. Freeman was founding Chair of the Audiology Department and a Professor of Audiology at Nova Southeastern University. He continues to maintain adjunct appointments and teaches Practice Management at several Doctor of Audiology programs across the country. Before returning to academia in 1997, Dr. Freeman owned and practiced for twenty years at the Center for Audiology in Clarksville, TN. He is president-elect of the Florida Academy of Audiology and a past-president of the American Academy of Audiology.