AAA 2021 Virtual: Point-Counterpoint: The Role of Tele-Practice, Post COVID-19

Presented at AAA 2021 Virtual

Presenter(s): Dave A. Fabry, PhD ; Lori Zitelli, AuD; Anna M. Jilla, AuD, PhD; Terence Limb, AuD; Brian Fligor, PhD; Julie A. Honaker, PhD

Duration: 60 minutes

CEUs: 0.1 AAA/Tier 1 CEUs 

Instructional Level: Intermediate

Program Focus: Knowledge

Learning Outcomes: Upon completion, each participant in the eAudiology Web Seminar will be able to:

1. Describe the way that Audiologists have applied telehealth during COVID-19 as part of their scope of practice for hearing and balance care.
2. Discuss the ways that Audiologists may incorporate telehealth into the "best practice" POST COVID-19 to preserve/improve satisfaction, clinical efficiency, and patient/clinical engagement.
3. Discuss issues related to coding, billing, and reimbursement for telehealth services provided by Audiologists.

Description:  

COVID-19 has reshaped the world in many ways, and has impacted Audiological practice significantly.  At the beginning of the pandemic, when many government lockdowns and "stay-at-home" orders, many patients and providers "discovered" telehealth, even though it had been available for many years.  As the first wave dissipated, however, many audiologists went back to "business as usual".  This debate will focus on whether tele-practice should be a core component of "best practice" or whether it should be reserved for emergencies only.

Dave A. Fabry, PhD

Chief Innovation Officer Starkey

Dave Fabry is Chief Innovation Officer at Starkey Hearing Technologies. He is a Past Board of Directors member and Past President of the Academy. He has worked in both industry and academic clinical environments (Mayo Clinic, University of Miami, Walter Reed Army Medical Center). He served as Editor-in-Chief for Audiology Today for over a decade, and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the American Auditory Society.

Disclosure: Financial Disclosures: starkey- Employment

Non-Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant non-financial relationships with anything to disclose.

Lori Zitelli, AuD

Senior Audiologist / Lab Instructor UPMC / University of Pittsburgh

Lori Zitelli is a Senior Audiologist at UPMC. She received her clinical doctorate in Audiology from the University of Pittsburgh. She is a part-time lab instructor at the University of Pittsburgh and teaches a Clinical Procedures Lab for first year AuD students. Her special interests include clinical education, tinnitus/decreased sound tolerance evaluation and treatment, clinical research, and interventional audiology. She is an active fellow and volunteer of the American Academy of Audiology and a Trustee of the American Academy of Audiology Foundation.

Disclosure: Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant financial relationships with anything to disclose.
Non-Financial Disclosures: AAA (member); AAAF (Trustee); ASHA (member)

Anna M. Jilla, AuD, PhD

Clinical Audiologist University of Texas Health Sciences Center

Anna Marie Jilla, Au.D., Ph.D. is a clinical audiologist at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center – UT Physicians. Her current research is in health economics, implementation science, and health services research. She has also made scientific contributions in the area of audiologic rehabilitation, specifically hearing aid uptake, treatment adherence, and outcomes measurement. She currently serves at the Chair of the American Academy of Audiology’s Coding and Reimbursement Committee.

Disclosure: Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant financial relationships with anything to disclose.
Non-Financial Disclosures: Chair, AAA Coding and Reimbursement Committee

Terence Limb, AuD

Audiologist Evergreen Speech & Hearing Clinic

Terry Limb has worked as a clinical audiologist in private practice for over 35 years in the Seattle area. He is a past president of his state's audiology society, a charter member of Washington Audiology Alliance (a state wide association of private practice audiologists), a former regional facilitator for the University of Florida AuD distance learning program, and a recipient of Awards of Clinical Excellence from the University of Washington and Oticon. Terry has also participated in a number of manufacturer technology focus groups and product beta tests and loves innovation. Finanacial and Non Financial Disclosures: Serves on Whisper.ai Advisory Board

Disclosure: Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant financial relationships with anything to disclose.

Non-Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant non-financial relationships with anything to disclose.

Brian Fligor, PhD

President, Staff Audiologist Tobias & Battite Hearing Wellness

Dr. Fligor is a board certified pediatric audiologist and president and staff audiologist at Tobias & Battite Hearing Wellness, a two-office private practice headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. He is Founding Clinical Advisor of Lantos Technologies, Inc. (Derry, New Hampshire), consultant to the World Health Organization (Geneva, Switzerland), and clinical advisor to 3DP4ME.org (a non-governmental organization operating in Salt, Jordan). He is author/co-author of 2 peer-reviewed scientific publications, author of eight chapters in audiology and medical textbooks, and author of general audience book Understanding Childhood Hearing Loss (Rowman and Littelfield, 2015). He is adjunct faculty at Salus University, GSO College of Audiology.

Disclosure: Financial Disclosures: Lantos Technologies, Inc.- Consultant/Advisory Board, Ownership Interest includes stock, stock options, patent or other intellectual property, Patent Holder
Non-Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant non-financial relationships with anything to disclose.

Julie A. Honaker, PhD

Director, Vestibular and Balance Disorders Program Cleveland Clinic

Julie A. Honaker, PhD CCC-A is the Director of the Vestibular and Balance Disorders Program at the Cleveland Clinic. Her passion for vestibular sciences developed during her master’s program in audiology (2001) and PhD (2006) at the University of Cincinnati, followed by a post-doctoral fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in (2009). Prior to joining the Cleveland Clinic in 2016, she was an Associate Professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with her teaching and research program focused on vestibular and balance sciences. As a clinical-researcher she strives to advance the care of patients with balance disorders, but more importantly she mentors students to become independent and critical thinkers and consumers and producers of research. Her signature contributions to the field are enhancing the clinical training and research preparedness of students in audiology. Dr. Honaker is currently serving as the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Vice President for Academic Affairs in Audiology.

Disclosure: Financial Disclosures: Cleveland Clinic- Employment; National Advising Committee for Audiology Praxis- Consultant/Advisory Board, Speaker/Honoraria; Plural Publishing- Royalties
Non-Financial Disclosures: ASHA Vice President for Academic Affairs in Audiology