What Happens When Optometry and Audiology Intersect?

HOT TOPIC

Hearing-Aided Eyewear Has Arrived

EssilorLuxottica exhibited at the Consumer Electronics Show for the first time this year in Las Vegas. The event, considered by many to be the most prominent electronics expo in the world, took place January 9-14. Although this isn’t exactly news, what the company displayed is quite unique. At its booth, EssilorLuxottica showcased a prototype for “Nuance Audio,” which combines fashionable glasses with advanced hearing technology that is “built-in seamlessly.”

According to EssilorLuxottica, hearing solutions are a market that has not been adequately addressed and “where, similar to vision care decades ago, consumers are averse to wearing the traditional corrective devices for several reasons including their visibility, discomfort, and price.” The company has designed Nuance Audio for consumers with mild to moderate hearing loss and aims to reduce the psychological barrier that stands in the way of many adopting traditional hearing aids. (Read more here.)

My Two Cents

This news is interesting to me for a couple of reasons. First, the concept of making hearing aids more visually appealing is absolutely an excellent idea. Given the fact that eyeglass temples lay directly on the ear, it’s a logical leap for the company. Secondly, it’s hard not to notice that EssilorLuxottica is taking its products directly to the consumer, rather than trying to incorporate audiologists into the business plan.

OUTSIDE THE LANE

Fewer Teen Smokers Now, Less Ocular Disease Later?

According to new research, less than 1% of US teens are now daily smokers. Researchers tracked data on students in high school (grades 9-12) from 1991 to 2021, and they found a 16-times decline in daily cigarette use, from 9.8% of teens saying they smoked daily in 1991 to just 0.6% in 2021.

Interestingly, the number of teens who reported even trying smoking has dropped dramatically from ~70% of teens in 1991 saying they had “ever” smoked to less than 18% in 2021. The study’s authors believe this precipitous drop is due to an active public health effort to educate the nation’s youth on the damaging effects of smoking. Still yet, smoking-related illness is responsible for one in every five US deaths, approximately half a million annually.

My Two Cents

These results show us that the smoking cessation campaign is one of the most successful public health efforts in our nation’s history. Seeing this dramatic decrease in smoking in our nation’s youth is impressive and stunning. Maybe we’ll see less age-related macular degeneration, dry eye, glaucoma, and cataracts in the future as a result.

CAN YOU RELATE

As the new year begins, many of our patients’ deductibles reset. It’s incredibly frustrating for all involved when those patients make their way into the clinic, knowing full well that they have a high deductible plan, and then act shocked when confronted with the cost of their regular glaucoma, macular degeneration, or dry eye testing. It makes for a difficult discussion between our staff and patients, with many patients asking the staff if they really need the test; or if they can’t afford all of them, which one is most important; or my favorite, they tell my staff they’ll ask me if they need the tests. Rest assured, everyone, this happens to all of us who practice even the smallest amount of medical optometry, and it’s likely to get worse before it gets better. In today’s world of rising insurance costs and ever-increasing deductibles, these discussions your staff will have with patients are worth rehearsing.

One of the things I really like doing is making sure my staff understands why patients will likely be paying more for their testing at the beginning of the year. We like them to know exactly what insurance deductibles are and spend the time educating them so they can help our patients better understand how their insurance works. One of my go-to responses to any patient who complains about the cost of testing or treatment is, “Billion-dollar insurance companies didn’t become billion-dollar insurance companies by paying for things.”

IMAGE OF THE WEEK

Doyne Honeycomb retinal dystrophy.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Even the strongest blizzards start with a single snowflake.”

— Sara Raasch, American author