Technology's Impact on Caregivers: A Discussion with Dr. Jamie Hand

Wondering how caregivers and hearing healthcare intersect? Join me and the insightful Dr. Jamie Hand as we unravel the crucial role that caregivers often play behind the scenes in the world of hearing aid use. We'll share some eye-opening statistics and delve into how the patient's living situation impacts the caregiver's tasks. Our conversation brings to light the need for hearing care professionals to personalize their approach, understanding and catering to the unique circumstances of each individual patient.

In the latter half of our conversation, we turn our focus to the exciting advent of technology and its transformative impact on caregiving. We highlight how Starkey's groundbreaking hearing aids and their accompanying caregiver app are setting new standards in patient care and aiding caregivers in their valuable roles. We discuss how telehealth connectivity has become essential, reshaping the patient-caregiver dynamics, and its potential in mitigating issues of social isolation and depression. Don't miss out on this enlightening journey into the intricate realm of hearing healthcare and caregiver support.

Transcript

Blaise Delfino, M.S. - HIS:

You are tuned into the Hearing Matters podcast, the show that discusses hearing technology, best practices, and a growing national epidemic, hearing loss. Before we kick this episode off, a special thank you to our partners, Sycle, built for the entire hearing care practice; Redux, faster, drier, smarter, verified; OtoSet, the modern ear cleaning device. Welcome back to another episode of The Hearing Matters podcast. I'm your host, Blaise Delfino, and joining us today is Dr. Jamie Hand. Dr. Jamie Hand, welcome back to the Hearing Matters podcast.

Dr. Jamie Hand:

Yes, thank you. Thank you for having me.

Blaise Delfino, M.S. - HIS:

So Jamie, let's let everyone know. You and I are colleagues, we are coworkers, we are both on the same team, and honestly, this was an episode I was really looking forward to, picking your brain, because November is National Caregiver's month.

Dr. Jamie Hand:

Yeah, absolutely. And like you said, we're coworkers. I had to not look at you and you were doing the intro, and hearing your podcast voice, and cracking me up. I was going to start laughing. No, but you do great work on here, so I'm glad to be back. But yeah, it's National Caregivers Month. It's very important for us as a company, we offer a unique solution, but really just anyone with hearing loss. I think we all can think of a family member or even a patient that we've seen that has been impacted positively, negatively by caregiving, lack of caregiving, et cetera. So it's an important conversation to have.

Blaise Delfino, M.S. - HIS:

We are going to have a lot of fun. And Jamie, before we really deep dive into the episode, so you have experience clinically. So share with our listeners a little bit about your background as an audiologist, working with patients hands-on, but really important, working with the caregivers hands-on.

Dr. Jamie Hand:

Yeah, of course. I mean, in clinic we always value that third party, that companion, that caregiver to be there at that initial appointment, because oftentimes they're the ones that is noticing the hearing loss the most. We always say hearing loss doesn't affect just that person that is experiencing it, it's really all of your connections in your life, and especially that person that might be your caregiver. So we value them there, and taking them through the whole journey of understanding, hearing loss, understanding how they can best communicate, even after we introduce hearing aids. As we all know, you still require communication techniques, so making sure that they understand the role that they play, and then also depending on their loved one and maybe their dexterity or their vision, that caregiver is going to play a key role in their success with their hearing aids, because they might be needing to help them clean, and charge, and change batteries, insert, remove, et cetera. So they really play an integral role.

Blaise Delfino, M.S. - HIS:

I love the quote-unquote, and we should trademark this, the caregiver look. And what do I mean by this? When the patient comes in and says, "I don't have any hearing loss," and the caregiver gives you that look of, oh yeah. Yeah, they do.

Dr. Jamie Hand:

Here we go, yeah.

Blaise Delfino, M.S. - HIS:

Here we go. So when we talk about the caregiver, and we're really going to deep dive, but who is the caregiver? And Jamie, you shared some really eye-opening statistics with me, that caregiver, and these are averages. Average caregiver is 50 years old, 60% of them are employed, 60% are female, 65% are married. And we'll go a little bit deeper into some of these averages, but share with us why the role of the caregiver is so crucial when you are fitting hearing aids on that patient.

Dr. Jamie Hand:

Yeah, I mean oftentimes that caregiver is the advocate for the patient as well, depending on their mental, physical state. I've had patients in the past that were in assisted living and it was a constant battle. The caregiver would go and pick them up, bring them to the appointment, and when they showed up to the appointment, they would be exasperated and say, "Oh, mom wasn't wearing her hearing aids. It was a new tech that was in there. I had to explain to them that they need to help put her hearing aids in every morning. The battery was dead. I had to help change that. They were so dirty. I'm sorry."

And so, that as a whole, I think there's kind of two scenarios we often see. Well, let's say three. Caregiving facility, the caregiver lives with the person, or the patient is wanting to maintain their autonomy and lives at home. And so, all three offer severe stress on the caregiver in different ways. So really we have to listen to them, understand their living scenario at the time, understand the challenges, how good is the supporting staff? Does it change often? Do we need to... I've printed out instructions in large font and put it in a protective sleeve to sit on their table, and say like, "Here's pictures of how to insert the hearing aid." But it's still a unique scenario every single time.

Blaise Delfino, M.S. - HIS:

And to your point, it is a unique scenario every single time, because there are those three different living situations. And when we talk about autonomy, so you've just told a new patient maybe who lives by themselves, wants to maintain their independence, you just told them they have hearing loss. That's a loss in and of itself, because they're now thinking to themselves, "Oh my God, now I have to face the brutal fact that I do present with hearing loss. Now I have to be fit with hearing technology, hearing aids, and there's so much change."

And when you're trying to maintain that independence now, okay, well we'll fit you with hearing technology. And now the caregiver saying like, "Oh, let me help you put these in."

And the patient sometimes is like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, I can do it myself." I'm sure you've had some scenarios like that, with patients who... When you're told you have hearing loss, that is big news, but it's also in the case presentation from the hearing care providers aspect as well.

Dr. Jamie Hand:

Oh yeah, absolutely. And it's part of that mental gymnastics we have to perform as hearing care professionals, of understanding the space that that patient is in, and like you said, the caregiver look of like, "Ugh." If we need to battle kind of that first acceptance first and then having them battle all of these other loss of autonomy. Maybe they just lost their ability to drive, maybe their caregiver has been trying to get them in assisted living, and they want to stay at home, and then you're introducing this other...

So that's another part. I mean, we just have to have a ton of empathy and a ton of patience with our patients, because again, that's something I think a lot of people outside of the industry don't understand of the time spent with patients, getting them acclimated to their hearing aids, but just understanding all of the care and use of them is most of that first fitting appointment. I mean, by the time we fit the hearing aids, do real ear, then we spend the next 30 minutes talking about, "Okay, now how do we use these things?"

Blaise Delfino, M.S. - HIS:

Exactly, Jamie. Exactly. So that's a great segue. When we talk about challenges. So there are maybe some, and I'm not going to steal the thunder here, but counseling challenges. But to your point, you get the hearing aids all ready to rock, real ear measurement, the whole nine yards. There's so many other hurdles that we as hearing care providers need to jump over, but also the caregivers too. So what are some specific challenges that these caregivers often encounter when they're assisting maybe their mother, or father, or father-in-law with hearing aids, and how can that caregiver address those challenges effectively?

Dr. Jamie Hand:

I mentioned one example earlier of, if they're in assisted living and not getting the help they need with their hearing aids, or we won't even go down the rabbit hole of hearing aids being lost in facilities. But just wearing the hearing aids, as we all know, is a big challenge first of all. And with any patient, sometimes we have to counsel, and counsel first thing, wake up, wear it all day, et cetera. But if we introduce a patient with maybe memory loss, or is going through cognitive decline, and maybe introducing new habits is really hard for them. And in the instance of if they are maintaining autonomy, their caregiver can't be there every single morning.

Usually, again, if they're working, they usually have adult children of their own caregiving for them as well. So Starkey is unique in the industry. We are the only ones that have a caregiver app called HearShare, and this really links a separate app for the caregiver to that individual's hearing aid, and is able to see if they are even wearing the hearing aids that day. I was just looking at my own, I have two names within myself. I have my hearing aids and then I have a separate identity who is my caregiver. And I was just looking at the app before this, because it really is cool how quickly it notes when you've turned on your hearing aids. I mean, I was turning them on, looking at the app, and one, two, boop, and it says they're turned on.

The same with battery life. So again, that struggle of like, "Oh, are they charging? Are they changing their battery?" You can tell if they need to change their battery, if their hearing aids are dead.

Also, with our unique activity tracking and social engagement, interaction tracking, you can see all of that. Now granted, the patient does have to give permission for all of that, but I think once you've had that conversation, and really broken down the barriers, and perhaps it's something that the caregiver knows better how to handle with their loved one, of saying, "Look, mom, it would really help me out if I can see when I wake up in the morning that you have your hearing aids on. So when I call you to get you ready for your doctor's appointment that I'm picking you up from, I know that you can hear my phone call when I'm talking to you."

Blaise Delfino, M.S. - HIS:

Yes.

Dr. Jamie Hand:

So it's just little things like that. We also have the activity tracking, like I mentioned, and I know my own grandmother, after some heart surgeries had just simple hourly stand and step goals. It was just stand up, walk to the kitchen, walk back. We can see standing, we can see steps. She lives alone. My aunt, uncle, me, we can all look at the app and go, "Okay, she's stood up four times today. Grandma's hitting her goal."

Blaise Delfino, M.S. - HIS:

Grandma hit her goal today.

Dr. Jamie Hand:

Yes, exactly.

Blaise Delfino, M.S. - HIS:

Earlier in this episode, we were talking about who is the caregiver, and again, we shared averages. So the average caregiver is 50 years young, 60% are employed, 60% are employed, which means that's eight hours out of the day. Also, most caregivers are family, and they spend about 24.4 hours per week, for an average of four years, unpaid without the assistance of paid help. So really what I'm getting at is number one, the caregiver is so important to this, their own family member's life, and health, and safety.

So being that Starkey is the only hearing aid manufacturer that does have a caregiver app called HearShare. Tell us a little bit about the fall feature that Starkey hearing aids have, because we know that individuals who present with untreated hearing loss are, even with mild, are three times more likely to experience a fall. And as the degree of hearing loss starts to worsen, the likelihood of a fall starts to increase. However, now with the HearShare app, are caregivers now able to see if one of their family members were to fall?

Dr. Jamie Hand:

Yes. So we have our fall detection and alert system, the only hearing aid that's capable of that as well, and it will function on its own. You don't have to have HearShare to have fall detection and alerts. But what HearShare offers is a history of falls. So if we have detected falls in the past, HearShare will show you. It actually shows you a log of everything. I mean, it shows you every day that the hearing aids have been worn, all the activity, et cetera, including fall alert history.

So knowing that that caregiver most times is going to all of the doctor's appointments with their loved one, and having this app that literally has all of this information that that doctor might need to know, especially when did grandma fall? What time of day, do we see a pattern? Is she in physical therapy? Can we help give that information to the physical therapist and have them help build up leg muscles? All of that. There's really an opportunity to connect a lot of dots just through your hearing aids. So one device can now fill the role of multiple other apps and devices. So we're really trying to make a hearing aid that all-in-one healthcare device.

Blaise Delfino, M.S. - HIS:

And we've done such a great job of that. I remember when Livio was introduced, Dr. Dave Fabry, when he would present, he would always say, "Ears are the new wrists." And the reason being is for all of our Fitbit or Apple Watch users, and now it's like Garmin, there's a ton of them out there that's tracking steps and your oxygen levels, your sleep. And what's so great with Starkey's technology, Jamie, preaching to the choir here, being that you are our product communications lead, we have this communication between the hearing aids and the phone.

And you touched on a really interesting point there, where the caregiver can take this data and they can go to their primary care physician, and they can share step count or, "Hey, mom or dad experienced a fall. I want you to print this out to have this on file for you." So it's not just about the ear, it's about the brain and the overall health of the patient. The hearing technology is helping the patient hear better, live better, but also that data that's being spewed out for the caregiver and the patient is going to assist them in living that well-rounded health span.

Dr. Jamie Hand:

Absolutely. And I mean it's going back to patient autonomy. I think most of this generation that is getting to the age where they might have in the past gone to assisted living, and they are digging their heels in and saying, "No, I don't want to go. I want to live in my own house." Which I would feel the same. I can definitely empathize with that. And so, thinking of ways that we can still help them and help their caregiver, we have two other features that are very helpful in that.

One being TeleHear. I mean just having that remote ability to immediately make adjustments to that patient's hearing aids if needed, if they can't make it into the office, or if their caregiver, again, who's working maybe 40 hours a week, has children of their own, they can't pick them up and bring them to the appointment that day. We can get to them through tele here and make adjustments right then and there.

There's also self-check, which will do a quick diagnostic of the hearing aids, and make sure that they're cleaned well and working. So you can always do that before TeleHear to make sure it's not just a dirty hearing aid. So we're really trying to introduce these features that give these patients the tools to maintain their autonomy.

Blaise Delfino, M.S. - HIS:

Yes. So Jamie, let's deep dive into both of those, because this is really, really important stuff, for lack of a better term. And this just from us working together, the Hearing Matters podcast, this really started as a resource for our patients and really caregivers, so you could know who we are before you come into the clinic. And then, after we fit you, we would send you specific episodes to listen back, learn about hearing technology, about your specific hearing technology, and that's essentially like telehealth. But for our patients, one of my questions that I had for you is the involvement of the caregiver. And it's crucial if that's the biggest takeaway today, the caregiver plays such an essential role, number one in hearing aid adoption. Number two in hearing aid acclimatation. So when patients would come in, obviously we'd send them the podcast, but we'd also follow up on emails, and we would do telehealth. Now, for our clinicians tuned in right now, a way in which that you can maximize your time, and save your patient and the caregiver time is, do all that stuff, real ear measurement, make sure that you're hitting targets.

So what we would do is, okay, first the fitting appointment, Jamie, you do real ear, you get the hearing aids tuned up where they need to be. You start them at a lower acclimation level. So then when you do that follow-up visit telehealth, when you're making those adjustments, you're not doing that in the dark. Share the importance of rallying behind telehealth, because there was a huge spike, and it seemed maybe to have decreased, because maybe we've gotten a little bit more comfortable. So tell us what TeleHear is and how clinicians, providers and caregivers can really maximize the use of it.

Dr. Jamie Hand:

Yeah, you make a good point of using it just as a follow-up tool, because I think, yeah, we're oftentimes stuck in kind of the routine that we're used to, and it's hard to introduce a new way of doing things sometimes. But yeah, we are forced to adopt remote programming in 2020, and then afterwards, yeah, we've really seen a roll off. There are certainly clinics that have adopted it well, and I think they're also a little forced to sometimes, with a few scenarios, if they're more rural and they're having people drive longer distances to get to them, and if they have a younger patient population who is also working, and they're able to tell you very clearly what their issue is, you trust them to know that they're cleaning their hearing aid.

They really appreciate not having to take time off, leave work early, whatever to come in and for an appointment that might take 10 minutes. So I think TeleHear is really... It's our remote programming system. It's synchronous, so it's a live session in real time. The patient can tell you yes, no, give you feedback, you can see them, they can see you. So it's really surprisingly simple to do.

Blaise Delfino, M.S. - HIS:

So Jamie, when it was the height of the pandemic, obviously the office was shut down for a few months, and telehealth allowed us to remain connected with our patients, because thank goodness, thank goodness that the team was early adopters of this technology, because we had trained our patients. And that is so important. And understanding, yes, some clinics are busier than others, but how can you maximize? And we talk a lot about this Jamie, transfer of information, process of duplication.

If you create a system that is easily adoptable by your patients, these snackable items, then you can really scale how many patients you're able to see. You save the patient time, you train them on this, on TeleHear, they don't have to waste gas coming to the office, there's so many benefits of it. And what's great too is, let's say majority of these patients do want to remain independent, do live alone, but they have caregiver assistance. Guess what? You're going to train the caregiver on the use of TeleHear, and then the caregiver is going to be there, great. So we had a great conversation. Her name is Nell Rosenberg from Clark Schools for Hearing and Speech, and she's the National Director of Teleservices. And a big thing is like, can I still maintain rapport with my patients virtually? And the answer is absolutely you can. Absolutely.

Dr. Jamie Hand:

Yeah. And I mean, it's something that I think, with our patients that have a primary carryover that live in assisted living, that's hard for them to get out. We know the importance of social engagement with them and isolation, and if they're not able to get to you, you can still get to them very easily, and still have that conversation that you would have in office, and still have that connection. But I think that's a tool that is often overlooked, and honestly, it's a disservice to our patients sometimes. And I also, like you said, the time and your schedule is so precious. And I know when I was in clinic it was, I'll see you a week later and then two weeks after that, I'll see you again. And how many times on that second follow-up, was it just, "Nope, everything's all good." And you're like-

Blaise Delfino, M.S. - HIS:

Well, okay.

Dr. Jamie Hand:

... well, okay, let's do some aided speech testing on you-

Blaise Delfino, M.S. - HIS:

See you in six months for your cleaning check.

Dr. Jamie Hand:

Yeah, and I think especially established patients, that maybe it's their second, third set of hearing aids, it's like the second follow-up, we're going to schedule a phone consultation or a telehealth appointment, and we'll get you checked out. I can make any tweaks you need.

Blaise Delfino, M.S. - HIS:

That's all functional, Jamie. Yeah.

Dr. Jamie Hand:

Yeah, just freed up 30 minutes of your time.

Blaise Delfino, M.S. - HIS:

And you saved the patient's time and frustration. So when we talk about caregivers, again, November is national caregivers month. What we're talking about is the importance of the caregiver. We discussed some averages of who the caregiver is. Caregivers are under a lot of stress, and Jamie, countless, countless cases where caregiver would come in, drop the hearing aids off, mom says she can't hear, dad says she can't hear, throw them in the redux, do a deep clean, clean off the mic ports, and they're rocking and rolling.

Obviously you want to train the caregivers on how to clean the hearing aids, as you had said earlier, but I'd love to touch upon this social isolation aspect and the depression. So how can caregivers use the data like social interaction, what are some tools then, some functional communication, that the caregiver can implement? Maybe it's going over to see mom and dad more, or involving them in some sort of social activity. As an audiologist, you're all about communication. So it's not just hearing aids, it's not just ears. It's this exchange of ideas. How can caregivers maintain that social engagement with their loved ones?

Dr. Jamie Hand:

Yeah, it's a great tracking tool to really understand how much or maybe how little social interaction your loved one is getting throughout the day. I know with some of my own family members, we've had the conversation of, okay, let's create a little bit of a call schedule. This grandchild's going to call this day, mom's going to call this day, this grandchild's in the call... And just to make sure that that person is still staying socially engaged, and honestly just helping with their mood. I mean, I'm a bit of an introvert myself. I like my alone time, but that alone time has an expiration date. Everyone needs-

Blaise Delfino, M.S. - HIS:

You can only be alone so long before you get cabin fever, yeah.

Dr. Jamie Hand:

Exactly. So I think HearShare is a great window real time, I mean real time, into that person's life to get them involved, like you said, in a social activity. Is there a senior group in the area that they can get connected in, a church, a group of friends, bunko, bingo, whatever? Or the same thing goes with audiobooks, podcasts. Is there some kind of auditory stimulation that we can get them connected with, that we know will simulate them, that isn't just TV all the time?

Blaise Delfino, M.S. - HIS:

Absolutely. And Jamie, I'd love to point out as well, so in the My Starkey app, when patients are fit with Starkey Genesis AI, there are now how-to videos in the app itself. You know that from being in clinic when you have a patient that you're just fitting, let's say they have decreased dexterity, so you fit them with a full shell in the ear hearing aid, and changing the wax scar is going to be really difficult for them. You're doing an assessment, you know that this patient lives at home with their caregiver, so you're going to show them how to clean, but chances are the caregiver's going to do that. Tell us how caregivers can utilize these how-to videos and why they're such an incredible resource for the caregiver.

Dr. Jamie Hand:

I mean, when we redesigned the My Starkey app, it was really made with simplicity and ease of use in mind. And that is one of them. I mean, it's smart enough to know what style of hearing aids you have, so it's not just going to feed you all of the how to videos that you have to figure out which one is yours. It shows you, here is an ITE hearing aid, here's how to clean it. It also knows how long you've been wearing them. And so, it kind of starts to feed you articles, or little tips and tricks, that align typically with that stage of wearing a hearing aid. So it's really easy to use.

We have that, but we also have what you're really involved with, our YouTube page. And I thought the first time you shared YouTube analytics, it was interesting, the age of person accessing our YouTube channel seemed to skew pretty young. And that says to me, it's the caregiver. It's their grandchild that's over there trying to figure out their hearing aid, and they're searching, and YouTube has such a great SEO result, that boom, there's our video at the top. They click it, they watch it. So we have duplicated. We know people aren't just going to access it one place. We have it duplicated on YouTube. We have it duplicated on Starkey.com. So anywhere somebody needs that information, that caregiver who might just be doing a Google search should be able to find these tips.

Blaise Delfino, M.S. - HIS:

And to our providers out there, if you have any questions, ask your outside representative to show you where these resources are. I would always encourage coming from practice, as you as well Jamie, encouraging providers to give themselves some time to really deep dive into the app, deep dive into the technology, and the resources that are available not only to the patient, but the caregiver as well. We know that if you have a patient who suspects they present with hearing loss, and they come in alone, you have a 20% help rate. When they come in with their caregiver or a third party, it goes up to 70%. That's a huge difference. That's a 50% difference. And oftentimes they feel as though, okay, I present with a decrease in hearing sensitivity. My son or my daughter is here with me. They're going to come along this journey with me. So yes, let's move forward with technology. Jamie, we have to know. Can you share any heartwarming or success stories that highlight the impact of the caregivers, because you've helped so many patients. Is there one story that really sticks out to you?

Dr. Jamie Hand:

There was one gentleman who, he was getting hearing aids, but he was the caregiver himself to his wife, who was bedridden at home. And she was really soft-spoken because of her medical condition. She couldn't really produce a very loud voice, and then him having hearing loss, which kind of led him to come in to get hearing aids in the first place. But he said, "Even with my hearing aids, she's just so soft-spoken. Everyone has to lean in and try to hear her." And so, we got him a remote microphone. And I mean, him coming back, he would just clip it to his wife's shirt. He'd be like, "I can walk all the way to the kitchen and I hear if she needs something."

And so it's really just truly listening to our patient's needs and understanding their living scenarios, their lives, and really that why of why they came in to get help in the first place. And really thinking outside, I think of all of our health able features as tools in your toolbox. You should not be talking to every patient about everything these hearing aids can do. Not every single patient has a caregiver to talk to them about this app. It's probably not going to apply. But like you said, giving that thorough case history, knowing all about that patient, and then looking at your toolbox and going, "Oh, this HearShare app would work. You're going to like fall detection, you're going to like activity tracking, whatever."

Blaise Delfino, M.S. - HIS:

Yes.

Dr. Jamie Hand:

And then introducing those as you go along. And that helps build this case for this hearing aid for that patient, who might've been resistant in the first place. Show them how it can help them in particular.

Blaise Delfino, M.S. - HIS:

I love your use case of the accessories and the remote mic, because I know you are a huge proponent of accessories. We know that the hearing aids in and of themselves, it's incredible technology, but imagine increasing your ability to understand, and speech, and noise with accessory, AKA like table mic, remote mic. So I love that you brought that up. You sparked something that I'd love to briefly discuss, because we have a lot of providers on, tuned in, the importance of motivational interviewing. Starkey hearing aids have incredible features, but we need to talk about the benefits first and the features second. And to your point, not every feature is for every patient. So that's why segmentation when it comes to creating your own office personas, create five different personas of who are your patients. So you're not going to talk about all this crazy feature tech with someone who may only live alone, but they have a caregiver.

So you really need to interview, and motivationally interview them. But also, Jamie, what I'd always love to hear is when we would be working with patients, you ask the patient, "What would you like to accomplish today?" And then you turn to the caregiver and you ask, "What would you like to accomplish today?" When you do that, it shows that this appointment is really all about them, because it is.

And we heard time and time again, "I've never had a healthcare provider ask me what I want to accomplish today." And that's what I think the hearing healthcare industry is so special and what is so unique about it, and keeping the caregiver part of the equation.

Dr. Jamie Hand:

Yeah, absolutely. I love that. We're constantly trying to think of tools to give providers to help guide them, and the more information that we get, especially on the comorbidity of cognitive decline with hearing loss, and then the recent achieved studies showing that hearing aids can help in adults that might be at a higher risk, at least the short-term results, short-term of the long-term study. But I know a lot of providers find it hard to make that jump to talking about cognitive health, to talking about the interactions, the comorbidities of overall health. So really understanding what that patient's life is like, what their motivation is for being there, their why for being there, and then helping them open up about other issues. I mean, that's really, I think, the beginning of how we can get into this broader hearing healthcare model.

Blaise Delfino, M.S. - HIS:

Jamie, it has been an absolute pleasure as always having you on the Hearing Matters podcast. Really appreciate you coming on. Do you have any final thoughts you'd like to share with our listeners tuned in, where and how can they connect with you, maybe on LinkedIn, and any final thoughts for our incredible providers out there?

Dr. Jamie Hand:

I mean, I think, I know there's a lot of technology out there, and it's all getting more and more options are available, but again, just remembering the tools that you have in your toolbox, and when you can pull them out. I think a lot of times you'll find that Starkey is the solution for you, and for your patients more importantly. But yeah, you can follow me on LinkedIn, Jamie Myers Hand, on Instagram Here with Dr. Jamie. Happy to connect and chat with anyone.

Blaise Delfino, M.S. - HIS:

You're tuned in to The Hearing Matters podcast. Today we had audiologist Dr. Jamie Hand join us. She is the product communications lead at Starkey. Until next time, hear life's story.