Doc Talk by MedAudPro

Network of Medical Audiology Professionals
  • 5.0 (4)
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A place where providers in ENT chat it up. Its hard to stay on top of all the specialties in a multi-specialty environment. We like to pick a topic, find the experts and deliver a heavy-hitting, short-format series that allows our listeners to dive in and get up to speed quickly. Our provider community is smart, busy and collaborative. You don't have to be an otolaryngologist or audiologist to hang out here - our community is full of medical providers of all types - the broader the perspective - often the better the care.

  1. 5d ago

    EP 09 – René Gifford, PhD | Stop Scheduling the Same Visit Twice: Designing Smarter Care Models

    For decades, cochlear implant programs have followed the same basic appointment schedule. Activation, one week, one month, three months, six months, nine months, one year. But what if that schedule is based more on tradition than evidence Meet René Gifford, PhD, Chief of Audiology and Research at Hearts for Hearing and one of the most respected voices in cochlear implant audiology. As a leader in the development of the Cochlear Care Consensus, Dr. Gifford is helping challenge long-standing assumptions about programming, follow-up care, remote services, and how audiologists use their time. Her work points toward a more efficient, evidence-based model that improves access without sacrificing outcomes. What You'll Hear: The Follow-Up Schedule Nobody Questioned: How a clinical trial protocol from the 1990s became the standard model for cochlear implant follow-up and why the evidence no longer supports many of those routine visits. The Cochlear Care Consensus: How a multidisciplinary group with more than 200 years of combined cochlear implant experience reviewed the research and developed a new framework for more consistent, efficient, and patient-centered care. Are We Seeing Patients Too Often? Why many stable cochlear implant patients may not need repeated programming appointments and how unnecessary follow-ups can create barriers for both patients and clinics. Remote Care’s Untapped Potential: Why remote programming and support remain underused despite being available across all three major cochlear implant systems, and how these tools can improve convenience, efficiency, and access. The Institutional Inertia Problem: How reimbursement, productivity expectations, state licensure, hospital policies, and traditional workflows can prevent clinics from adopting better models of care. Making Room for the Patients Still Waiting: Why programs cannot continue filling schedules with patients who are already doing well while new candidates wait months for evaluations and treatment. Programming for Audibility from Day One: How objective measures, evidence-based programming, and remote support can help patients reach strong outcomes faster without relying on repeated progressive mapping appointments. Education Is the Real Value: Why the future of audiology depends less on dispensing technology and more on clinical expertise, counseling, hearing health education, and helping patients understand how hearing affects their lives. Working at the Top of Your License: How assistants, techs, automated testing, apps, and new care models should allow audiologists to spend more time interpreting results, making recommendations, and managing complex patients. Dr. Gifford challenges one of the most deeply rooted habits in hearing care: bringing patients back simply because that is how it has always been done. Instead, she argues that every appointment should have a clear clinical purpose, be supported by evidence, and contribute meaningfully to the patient’s outcome. Who should listen? Audiologists, otologists, neurotologists, cochlear implant teams, hearing healthcare professionals, program directors, clinic managers, hospital administrators, students, residents, fellows, researchers, and anyone responsible for improving access, workflow, and patient outcomes in hearing healthcare. If your clinic has a months-long evaluation backlog while stable patients continue returning for routine appointments, this episode asks an important question: Are you delivering the care patients need, or simply repeating the schedule you were taught? Stay up to date with us:LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram @MedAudPro Want to learn more about FCOM? ⁠https://FCOMnow.com⁠ Join the MedAudPro Provider Community for free access to behind-the-password content and connect with providers practicing at the top of their game: ⁠https://medaudpro.com/register⁠ This episode issponsored by Envoy Medical.

    EP 09 – René Gifford, PhD | Stop Scheduling the Same Visit Twice: Designing Smarter Care Models

  2. Jul 7

    EP 08 - Teddy McRackan, MD | CI Insights | Beyond the Numbers: Patient Outcomes that Redefine Success

    For decades, cochlear implant success has been measured by speech scores. But what if those numbers don't tell the whole story? Meet Teddy McRackan, MD, neurotologist at the Medical University of South Carolina and one of the leading researchers redefining how cochlear implant outcomes are measured. As the developer of the CIQOL (Cochlear Implant Quality of Life) framework, digital platform, and the first national cochlear implant data repository, Dr. McRackan is helping shift the conversation from how patients perform in the sound booth to how they actually live with their cochlear implant. What You'll Hear: Beyond the Speech Score: Why traditional speech recognition testing often has surprisingly little correlation with how patients communicate, socialize, and experience life outside the clinic. The Quality of Life Revolution: How patient-reported outcomes are changing the way clinicians evaluate cochlear implant success and why quality of life may be the outcome that matters most. A Better Way to Counsel Patients: Why nearly one-third of patients who are recommended for cochlear implantation never move forward, and how functional outcome modeling can help patients make more informed decisions. Predicting Real-World Success: How new prediction models use quality-of-life data to estimate which patients are most likely to experience meaningful improvement after cochlear implantation. The CIQOL Digital Platform: A look at the new clinician dashboard that collects patient-reported outcomes before surgery, tracks progress over time, and brings meaningful data directly into the clinical workflow. Building the First National CI Data Repository: Why the field needs thousands of patients, not hundreds, to truly understand cochlear implant outcomes and how a national prospective database could transform research, prediction models, and patient care. Dr. McRackan challenges one of the longest-standing assumptions in cochlear implant care: that a speech recognition score alone can define success. Instead, he argues that understanding how patients function in everyday life, their communication, listening effort, social participation, emotional well-being, and overall quality of life, should be central to both counseling and long-term care. Who should listen? Audiologists, otologists, neurotologists, cochlear implant teams, hearing healthcare professionals, researchers, program directors, students, residents, fellows, healthcare administrators, and anyone interested in the future of outcome measurement and patient-centered cochlear implant care. If you've ever had a patient with modest speech scores who tells you their cochlear implant changed their life, or a patient with excellent scores who still struggles, this episode explains why both experiences can be true and how the next generation of cochlear implant care will measure what really matters. Stay up to date with us: LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram @MedAudPro Want to learn more about FCOM? https://FCOMnow.com Join the MedAudPro Provider Community for free access to behind-the-password content and connect with providers practicing at the top of their game:https://medaudpro.com/register This episode is sponsored by Envoy Medical.

    EP 08 - Teddy McRackan, MD | CI Insights | Beyond the Numbers: Patient Outcomes that Redefine Success

  3. Jun 23

    EP 07 - Conference Recaps with Drs. Dan Zeitler and Camille Dunn

    What happens when the cochlear implant field starts moving faster than the traditional care model? In this episode of the CI Report, a special series from Doc Talk by MedAudPro, Dr. Susan Good is joined by Dr. Camille Dunn and Dr. Dan Zeitler for a post-meeting download from two major cochlear implant meetings: ACIA in Chicago and the 18th International Conference on Cochlear Implants in Warsaw, Poland. Dr. Dunn brings the audiology perspective from both meetings, while Dr. Zeitler, Chair of the American Cochlear Implant Alliance, offers insight from the physician and leadership side of the field. Together, they unpack what felt new, what is gaining momentum, and what these conversations tell us about where cochlear implant care is heading next. What You’ll Hear: The Energy at ACIA: Why this year’s meeting felt different, with more practical takeaways, broader engagement, and renewed momentum across the field From Research to Real-World Practice: How programming, mapping, follow-up models, and patient-reported outcomes are becoming more central to clinical care A More Patient-Centered Model: Why cochlear implant care is moving away from rigid protocols and toward individualized follow-up, activation timing, programming, and outcome measurement The Rise of Remote Care and Telehealth: How new tools may help reduce unnecessary clinic visits while preserving strong patient outcomes Programming as a Clinical Priority: Why practical programming education drew major interest and what clinicians are looking to bring back to their own clinics Fully Implantable Cochlear Implants: What the field is watching and what questions remain AI in Programming and Rehab: How artificial intelligence may shape oral rehabilitation, programming support, personalization, and future outcome improvement Beyond Speech Scores: Why quality of life, psychosocial well-being, listening effort, and patient-reported outcomes are becoming increasingly important measures of success Hearing Loss as a Societal Issue: Why the field may need to shift the conversation from hearing loss as an individual problem to a public health and societal challenge Dr. Dunn and Dr. Zeitler offer a practical look at the trends shaping cochlear implant care, from fully implantable systems and AI to follow-up models, programming strategies, and the growing importance of personalized care. Who should listen? Audiologists, otolaryngologists, neurotologists, cochlear implant teams, hearing healthcare professionals, students, residents, fellows, researchers, healthcare administrators, industry partners, and anyone interested in where cochlear implant care is heading. If you have ever wondered what leaders in the field are talking about behind the scenes, what new ideas are starting to influence clinical care, or how cochlear implant medicine is evolving beyond traditional models, this episode offers a valuable look at what is coming next. Stay up to date with us: LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram @MedAudPro Want to learn more about FCOM? ⁠https://FCOMnow.com⁠ Join the MedAudPro Provider Community for free access to behind-the-password content and connect with providers practicing at the top of their game: ⁠https://medaudpro.com/register⁠ This episode is sponsored by Envoy Medical.

    EP 07 - Conference Recaps with Drs. Dan Zeitler and Camille Dunn

  4. Jun 23

    EP 06 - Margaret Dillon, AuD, PhD | CI Insights | Beyond One Good Ear: How Expanded CI Indications Changed Care

    What happens after clinical eligibility expands, butaccess, testing, and counseling are still catching up? Meet Margaret Dillon, AuD, PhD, Associate Professor andDirector of Cochlear Implant Clinical Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Dillon’s clinical trial work was instrumental in the 2019 FDA approval of cochlear implants for single-sided deafness (SSD) and asymmetric hearing loss (AHL), opening the door for thousands of patients who were previously told they still had “one good ear.” As the lead author of the American Cochlear Implant Alliance task force guidelines for adult CI assessment and management in single-sided deafness, Dr. Dillon brings a practical, research-grounded perspective on how this patient population is changing cochlear implant care. What You’ll Hear: The Shift from Bilateral Hearing Loss to SSD/AHL: Whypatients with single-sided deafness often present with very different needs, goals, and expectations than traditional cochlear implant candidates Why “One Good Ear” Is Not Always Enough: How loss ofbinaural hearing impacts safety, independence, spatial awareness, listening effort, tinnitus, and quality of life From Clinical Trial to Real-World Care: How early SSD/AHL cochlear implant patients helped build the evidence base that led to expanded FDA indications Programming and Counseling Differences: Why SSD patientsmay initially reject the sound of the implant, and how loudness levels, consistent use, and acclimation can influence outcomes  The Importance of Fusion: What it means when patients describe the cochlear implant and normal-hearing ear working together, and why this can be a major milestone in SSD care Rethinking Outcomes: Why traditional speech testing does not fully capture benefit in SSD patients, and how quality-of-life tools, spatial hearing measures, tinnitus outcomes, and listening effort are becoming increasingly important Practical Testing Considerations: How clinicians are adapting protocols, including direct audio input, two-speaker setups, speech-in-noise testing, and tools like the MSTB-3 and SSD testing worksheets The Medicare Coverage Gap: Why Medicare beneficiaries still face access barriers for SSD/AHL despite FDA approval and growing evidence of benefit Dr. Dillon offers a clear look at how cochlear implantcare has changed since the 2019 FDA approval, and why the field still needs to refine how it evaluates, counsels, programs, and measures benefit for patients with single-sided deafness and asymmetric hearing loss. Who should listen? Audiologists, otolaryngologists, neurotologists, hearinghealthcare professionals, cochlear implant teams, students, residents, fellows, healthcare administrators, researchers, payers, and anyone interested in improving access to cochlear implant care. If you have ever wondered how cochlear implants became an option for patients with single-sided deafness, how SSD outcomes should be measured, or why counseling and programming look different for this population, this episode provides valuable insight from one of the researchers who helped make expanded access possible. Stay up to date with us: LinkedIn, Facebook, andInstagram @MedAudPro Want to learn more about FCOM? ⁠https://FCOMnow.com⁠ Join the MedAudPro Provider Community for free access to behind-the-password content and connect with providers practicing at the top of their game: https://medaudpro.com/register⁠ This episode is sponsored by Envoy Medical.

    EP 06 - Margaret Dillon, AuD, PhD | CI Insights | Beyond One Good Ear: How Expanded CI Indications Changed Care

  5. Jun 9

    EP 05 - Maura Cosetti, MD | CI Insights | Adults & Medicare - Who's Left Behind?

    What happens when clinical evidence expands faster than Medicare coverage policy?  Meet Dr. Maura Cosetti, Director of the Ear Institute at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai and one of the nation's leading cochlear implant surgeons. As a leader of the American Cochlear Implant Alliance's effort to expand Medicare coverage for single-sided deafness (SSD) and asymmetric hearing loss (AHL), Dr. Cosetti has spent the last several years working directly with CMS to address one of the most significant access barriers in cochlear implant care today.  What You'll Hear:  The Medicare Gap: Why patients with single-sided deafness are often told to wait until their better ear declines before qualifying for coverage, despite growing evidence supporting earlier intervention  Inside the CMS Process: A behind-the-scenes look at the multiyear effort to expand Medicare coverage, including what evidence CMS requested and why the process has taken longer than many expected  The Real-World Evidence Challenge: Why gathering Medicare-specific outcomes data is more difficult than it sounds when many eligible patients cannot access treatment in the first place  Candidacy vs. Coverage: The critical distinction between being a cochlear implant candidate and qualifying for insurance coverage, and why confusing the two has delayed care for countless patients  The Testing Debate: How clinicians are interpreting current Medicare guidelines, including the 60% word recognition threshold, best-aided testing, and ear-specific evaluation  Why Traditional Outcomes Don't Tell the Whole Story: The limitations of conventional speech testing for SSD patients and the growing importance of quality-of-life, tinnitus, and functional hearing outcomes  The Access Problem: Why fewer than 10% of cochlear implant candidates ultimately receive an implant, and how Medicare policy represents just one piece of a much larger challenge    Dr. Cosetti offers a practical perspective on what providers can do today while broader policy changes remain under review. She also explains why access, not technology, remains one of the greatest barriers facing cochlear implant candidates.    Who should listen?  Audiologists, otolaryngologists, neurotologists, hearing healthcare professionals, primary care providers, students, residents, fellows, healthcare administrators, policymakers, and anyone interested in improving access to hearing healthcare.  If you've ever struggled to explain the difference between candidacy and coverage, wondered why Medicare has not kept pace with clinical evidence, or questioned how policy decisions impact patients sitting in front of you every day, this episode provides valuable insight from one of the leaders helping shape the future of cochlear implant access.    Stay up to date with us: LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram @MedAudPro    Want to learn more about FCOM? https://FCOMnow.com    Join the MedAudPro Provider Community for free access to behind-the-password content and connect with providers practicing at the top of their game: https://medaudpro.com/register    This episode is sponsored by Envoy Medical.

    EP 05 - Maura Cosetti, MD | CI Insights | Adults & Medicare - Who's Left Behind?

  6. Jun 2

    EP 04 – Melissa Hall, AuD/SLP | CI Insights | No Time to Wait: Pediatric CI Referrals and Fast-Tracking Care

    What if every month of waiting actually costs a child their future voice? In pediatric cochlear implant care, time is not just a factor - it is the factor. The window for neuroplasticity is open from birth, and for children with congenital hearing loss, it starts closing earlier than most providers realize. Meet Dr. Melissa Hall, AuD, CCC-A/SLP, audiologist and cochlear implant team coordinator at UF Health and Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Florida. Dr. Hall holds dual certification in audiology and speech-language pathology, and brings a deeply personal connection to the technology through her husband, who is a bilateral cochlear implant recipient. In this episode, we take on the clock - and ask what it actually takes to move fast enough to give every child their best chance. What You'll Hear: Why children born with hearing loss are already behind at birth - and what that means for every delayed referralCurrent FDA age minimums, why Dr. Hall believes we can go younger, and what objective testing makes that possibleWhere the newborn hearing screening pipeline breaks down after hospital dischargeHow insurance-driven hearing aid trial requirements bottleneck children who will not benefit from amplification aloneHow to counsel families who want to wait for the next breakthrough - and why waiting is itself a choice with consequencesWhat Dr. Hall's husband's experience as a late-implanted bilateral CI recipient teaches families about early interventionDr. Hall's message for every provider, regardless of specialty: no referral is a bad referral. If you are not sure, send them. Who should listen? Audiologists, otolaryngologists, neurotologists, pediatricians, neonatologists, primary care providers, speech-language pathologists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, newborn hearing screening coordinators, early intervention specialists, and anyone involved in the care of children with hearing loss. If you have ever wondered whether a child in your practice might have been identified sooner, referred faster, or implanted younger - this conversation is for you. Stay up to date with us: LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram @MedAudPro Want to learn more about FCOM? https://FCOMnow.com Join the MedAudPro Provider Community for free access to behind-the-password content and connect with providers practicing at the top of their game: https://medaudpro.com/register This episode is sponsored by Envoy Medical.

    EP 04 – Melissa Hall, AuD/SLP | CI Insights | No Time to Wait: Pediatric CI Referrals and Fast-Tracking Care

  7. May 19

    Ep 03 - Richard Gurgel, MD | CI Insights | Beyond Hearing - The Brain Health Connection

    What if hearing loss isn't just about hearing? For decades, hearing loss has often been viewed as a quality-of-life issue or simply part of aging. But what if we've been framing it all wrong? What if untreated hearing loss is actually a whole-body health issue with consequences that extend far beyond communication? Meet Dr. Richard Gurgel, MD, an NIH-funded surgeon scientist at the University of Utah whose research focuses on the relationship between hearing loss, cognition, and cochlear implantation. Dr. Gurgel is known for his work on the influential Cache County Study, which helped demonstrate that older adults with hearing loss experience higher rates of dementia and faster cognitive decline. His latest work examines the long-term impact of cochlear implantation on cognitive outcomes over five years. In this episode, we explore one of the biggest questions in hearing healthcare today: can treating hearing loss actually change the trajectory of brain health? What You'll Hear: · Hearing Loss as a Medical Condition: Why hearing loss should no longer be dismissed as a normal part of aging · The Brain Health Connection: How hearing loss is linked to cognitive decline, dementia risk, social isolation, falls, depression, and overall health outcomes · Five-Year CI Outcomes: What long-term data reveals about cognition after cochlear implantation · Stability Is a Win: Why maintaining cognitive function in older adults may be one of the most important outcomes in medicine · Beyond Communication: How cochlear implants may support healthy aging through social engagement and brain stimulation · The Screening Challenge: Why hearing screening still has not become standard practice in primary care · Reframing the Message: Moving from fear-based counseling toward conversations focused on healthy aging and quality of life · Demystifying Surgery: Why cochlear implantation may be safer and less invasive than many patients and providers assume · Local vs General Anesthesia: Emerging approaches that may reduce barriers for older adults considering implantation · Awareness Is the Real Bottleneck: Why technology may not be the biggest challenge anymore Dr. Gurgel challenges the field to think bigger. The question is no longer whether hearing loss matters. The question is whether healthcare is ready to treat it like the medical condition it truly is. Who should listen? Audiologists, otolaryngologists, neurotologists, primary care providers, geriatricians, neurologists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, hospital administrators, and anyone interested in the connection between hearing, cognition, and healthy aging. If you've ever wondered whether treating hearing loss can impact more than communication, this conversation may change how you think about hearing healthcare altogether. Stay up to date with us: LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram @MedAudPro Want to learn more about FCOM?https://FCOMnow.com Join the MedAudPro Provider Community for free access to behind-the-password content and connect with providers practicing at the top of their game:https://medaudpro.com/register This episode is sponsored by Envoy Medical.

    Ep 03 - Richard Gurgel, MD | CI Insights | Beyond Hearing - The Brain Health Connection

  8. May 19

    Ep 02 - Hemina Harris, ARNP | CI Insights | The Referral Gap - Where Cochlear Implant Candidates Get Lost

    How many cochlear implant candidates are current hearing aid patients being seen in audiology and ENT clinics right now without anyone realizing it? Meet Hemina Harris, ARNP, a nurse practitioner specializing in general otolaryngology and pediatrics at the University of Iowa Health Care System, adjacent to one of the country’s most established cochlear implant centers. Working on the front lines of ENT, Mina often becomes the first provider to recognize when a patient’s hearing loss may need to progress into a CI consult. In this episode, we take a closer look at one of the biggest blind spots in cochlear implant care: the referral pathway itself. Why are so many qualified patients still slipping through the cracks? And what happens before they ever reach the cochlear implant team? What You’ll Hear: · The Front Door Problem: Why general otolaryngology clinics may be one of the most overlooked opportunities for identifying CI candidates · “I Thought Hearing Aids Were My Only Option”: The education gap preventing patients from exploring cochlear implants sooner · The 60/60 Referral Rule: A simple screening framework that can help providers recognize potential CI candidates faster · Workflow Bottlenecks: How imaging, insurance approvals, scheduling delays, and fragmented communication slow patient access · The Mid-Level Perspective: Why nurse practitioners and physician assistants are uniquely positioned to improve CI identification and coordination · Referral Confidence Matters: How seeing successful patient outcomes encourages more providers to refer candidates earlier · The Communication Disconnect: Why providers inside the same department often never hear what happened after a referral is made · Building Better Systems: How multidisciplinary teams can improve coordination and reduce the risk of patients getting lost in the process Mina offers a practical and honest look at what happens in real-world ENT clinics every day. From quick screening conversations to coordinating imaging before surgical consults, this episode highlights the critical role advanced practice providers play in helping patients access cochlear implant care sooner. Who should listen? Audiologists, otolaryngologists, neurotologists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, primary care providers, cochlear implant coordinators, practice administrators, and anyone involved in hearing healthcare delivery. If you’ve ever wondered where cochlear implant candidates are getting lost before they even make it to the CI team, this conversation shines a light on the gaps and the opportunities to fix them. Stay up to date with us: LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram @MedAudPro Want to learn more about FCOM? https://FCOMnow.com Join the MedAudPro Provider Community for free access to behind-the-password content and connect with providers practicing at the top of their game: https://medaudpro.com/register This episode is sponsored by Envoy Medical.

    Ep 02 - Hemina Harris, ARNP | CI Insights | The Referral Gap - Where Cochlear Implant Candidates Get Lost
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A place where providers in ENT chat it up. Its hard to stay on top of all the specialties in a multi-specialty environment. We like to pick a topic, find the experts and deliver a heavy-hitting, short-format series that allows our listeners to dive in and get up to speed quickly. Our provider community is smart, busy and collaborative. You don't have to be an otolaryngologist or audiologist to hang out here - our community is full of medical providers of all types - the broader the perspective - often the better the care.

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  • Creator
    Network of Medical Audiology Professionals
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    46
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Network of Medical Audiology Professionals
  • Show Website
    Doc Talk by MedAudPro

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