I Hate My Audiologist

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khar59

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I have just come back from a 2nd session with my audiologist. Chosen, only because my insurance company only has his department in it's network.

OMG, I'm upset because he's playing with me because I have bruised his ego, probably been outright rude with him. Why? Because the first time I went to him he told me that he only dealt with Oticon hearing aids and he didn't know much about anything else so unless I had a good argument to why I should have Phonak then Oticon was it.

So then he made me wait 6 weeks to see him and then his opening question to me was "Why is it I haven't seen you since February, when he knows I tried to get an earlier appt with him before I went overseas. Now I have to wait another month before he will fit me with aid. he said because of his schedule, yet when I made appt with receptionist she asked me when he wanted to see me again.

He told me no other audiologist to see me as others for kids. I don't believe that as adult women came out with a normal audiologist woman, who seemed nice which mine was smirking behind the receptionists back.

I have made an enemy out of him and he is punishing me. I feel angry and powerless to the state of wanting to cry. I'm just trapped with a negative person who makes me feel like this. I also suspect that the heariing test is wrong as he didn't perform this very well either. He works for a large hospital system.

Damn him, I want to call up and cancel the aids and get the Phonak or just delay the order until I have been to my old audiologist office for a hearing test from them.
 
You mean your insurance company will not let you see another audiologist ? That does not sound right , what kind of insurance do have , is it off your job?


I thought a patients are entitled to get a second opinion , you should check into this and see what your rights are a patient.
 
I can see anyone I like, but I if I want my insurance company to pay for the hearing aids then I have to see their network provider and in this case it's just this one jerk!
 
That real suck that your insurance has only audi in their network , can you get a better insurance company? I would want to drop them if I could only see one audi that a jerk . I guess the guy know he is the only one in your plan and feel he can get away with being an ass _ !
 
He called today to talk about hearing aid order and I told him that I wanted to cancel the order and to not go forward with getting a new one right now. I said that right now I am feeling really down about everything when I should be excited to get a new hearing aid in 9 years, but instead I was dealing with the personality clash between him and me.

He went on about how opinionated I was and that he was dealing with that and I would have problems if I question audiologist's credentials. However, I just told him that he threw the first curve ball by telling me up front that I could only have one brand as that was all he knew. I have had 3 different brands since I began wearing aids in the early 90's. I can't be accused of not being open to change.

I told him I didn't want to work with him anymore as the clash was taking too much energy when I needed support and encouragement toward choosing the right kind of aid for my hearing loss. He initially refused to let me see one of the other two female audiologists in the office by saying they primarily work with kids.

He said he will ask the other two if they would be willing to work with me. So here goes, fingers crossed they will agree to see me.

But I just feel down right now and it's hard when you're deaf and people make you feel like an idiot and that's how he was making me feel. I told him that too.
 
I really feel you do not have to feel the audi that you're feeling down about things , that is done of the audi business and it may made it harder to work with the other audi . The guy sound like a real jerk and I would let my insurance company know you got horrible service from the audi . Maybe if enough people complain about him your insurance will get a better audi in their network . You have a right to try other brands of hearing aids .
 
Enough people complained to Hearingplanet.com about their choice of audiologist in our city and they changed her too. The new one is really switched on and upbeat, but she not covered by our insurance.

When I first used an audiologist for a hearing test and called our insurance company (work related) to ask about insurance coverage for the test, they told me that they didn't have coverage for that test. I said oh, I feel discriminated against, because you cover my eye tests and I really need hearing aids and to have tests and they are expensive.

Next minute I got a letter in the mail to say that they had made an exception for me to have the hearing test paid for by them. From then on they began to cover the tests routinely and also to pay for hearing aid repairs and now they cover hearing aids. They even sent me letter to tell me about the hearing aid coverage.
 
It is nice to hear someone has hearing aid coverage. Since they have just started this service it might help to go to your insurance people and request that they add the other provider to their preferred list. There should be some kind of person that deals with this on their board. You may have to find out who that person is and contact them.

I have ended up spending years of not being properly treated and then paying several thousands out of pocket to get proper treatment because of a restricted preferred provider situation with that included a circle of medical equipment provider incompetence, doctor incompetence, pa incompetence and substandard overpriced equipment. It can happen.

My insurance company got so many complaints they opened up the field so people could pick and choose and a new doctor came to the area. Still I am caught in it still paying my way out of it. There is no wayback machine for this. I got an expensive education that would have in equivalent been a year of college at a state university.

You may be able to go to another city. Your insurance may not have restrictions outside of the local area as to who you see.
 
Its easy... You need to call your health insurance and explain your situation. You dont feel comfortable and you are feeling hatred and you are NEVER like that . You also need to explain what the audi said to you which is NOT professional and you need to demand politely that you want a professional audi and make sure you tell them that the audi is not familiar with oticons. 9 times out of ten you should be able to get a second opinion and you have the right to do so. Be sure you are polite to health adjuster and let them try to help you.
 
radioman said:
Its easy... You need to call your health insurance and explain your situation. You dont feel comfortable and you are feeling hatred and you are NEVER like that . You also need to explain what the audi said to you which is NOT professional and you need to demand politely that you want a professional audi and make sure you tell them that the audi is not familiar with oticons. 9 times out of ten you should be able to get a second opinion and you have the right to do so. Be sure you are polite to health adjuster and let them try to help you.
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You know, I actually did that twice already. The first time I got a female and she was very open to hearing what I had to say, but that was all. The 2nd time I called, it was a guy and he got really shirty and started speaking very nastily. I think maybe men feel threatened by me? Not sure, but I sure as hell have to say that I'm pretty good at researching information for myself and I do know about products to enhance my life with hearing aid accessories.

I am also an immigrant to the USA from New Zealand, and I found the most positive, and encouraging audiologists are the ones in private practice. I have bought Siemens and Starkey ITC and currently own Phonak Savia's (9 years old), so I haven't necessarily been stuck with one brand. I was lucky that when I bought the last pair from HearingPlanet.com, that I qualified for a 1 year interest free loan from Care Credit. I was able to pay them off in a year. I couldn't do that now though as I'm not working.

Sorry to hear that you have had poor experiences Goodonya, as we really need all the best help we can get. Luckily there are other audiologists in this practice, although he wasn't going to let me see a new one. He used the excuse that they primarily worked with kids. However, I knew one of them does the mobile unit around companies. Good news for me, a female audi from that office called today and was very bright and nice and asked me if I wanted to see her first to talk about aids or whether I wanted her to just order some in as the other audi had already done the ear impressions. She said she would research the aids I had in mind and any others that would suit me in the Phonak range. See, that's how it should have been from the beginning. A willingness to listen and to research and then discuss. Instead he resorted to derision and argument.
 
khar59 said:
I found the most positive, and encouraging audiologists are the ones in private practice.
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I do too and I only deal with the ones in private practice, but some of them can be quacks too. I'm fortunate that I've been persistent and found an old audi from my analog days and her office has been wonderful. If an audi doesn't have a large selection of hearing aids or won't help you find the model you like, move on. If they're rude, move on. If they sound like a business only, move on. If they don't listen to what you're telling them about your needs or finances, move on. Don't stay with anyone that treats you poorly. Not everyone charges you every visit or makes you schedule something months in advance. If I had to put up with that, I'd take my business to Costco rather than give them a dime.

Laura
 
Lau2046 said:
I do too and I only deal with the ones in private practice, but some of them can be quacks too. I'm fortunate that I've been persistent and found an old audi from my analog days and her office has been wonderful. If an audi doesn't have a large selection of hearing aids or won't help you find the model you like, move on. If they're rude, move on. If they sound like a business only, move on. If they don't listen to what you're telling them about your needs or finances, move on. Don't stay with anyone that treats you poorly. Not everyone charges you every visit or makes you schedule something months in advance. If I had to put up with that, I'd take my business to Costco rather than give them a dime.

Laura
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I had the same audi for years and was happy with him , but he had his step daughter come work for him and she is a bitch . I had to have a HA repaired and the woman job was to call me when my HA came back . I waited the length of time and go t no call. I finally called and the woman told my HA came about 3 days ago but she did not feel like calling. WTF! She pull this crap a few times so I stop going to that audi. It's hard to find a good audi or any kind of doctor today.
 
Just in case you get to change your choice of places to get hearing aids, my stepmother just bought Widex BTE's from Woodard Hearing Aid center.

Don't know what made her decide to go there, but apparently they only employ qualified audiologists and have very good service.
 
It is a pleasure to see people get some good out of the medical system. I am feeling some guilt right now for not pushing hard for hearing aid coverage for the group health plan I belong to. It is people speaking up and taking action that makes positive changes.

The other thing I referred to was from the lack of choices. One of the claims insurance companies make is that they bring down costs by pushing for competitive costs.

My experience taught me that is something that can go completely the opposite direction when a love triangle is allowed to happen by way of a preferred provider, equipment/service provider, and (one or more well placed individuals in) the insurance plan itself.

I am now cynical enough to believe the motive that khar59 ran into has more to do with the money the audi was thinking about working the system out of, possibly in collusion with the insurance provider in some hidden way.
 
goodonya said:
It is a pleasure to see people get some good out of the medical system. I am feeling some guilt right now for not pushing hard for hearing aid coverage for the group health plan I belong to. It is people speaking up and taking action that makes positive changes.

The other thing I referred to was from the lack of choices. One of the claims insurance companies make is that they bring down costs by pushing for competitive costs.

My experience taught me that is something that can go completely the opposite direction when a love triangle is allowed to happen by way of a preferred provider, equipment/service provider, and (one or more well placed individuals in) the insurance plan itself.

I am now cynical enough to believe the motive that khar59 ran into has more to do with the money the audi was thinking about working the system out of, possibly in collusion with the insurance provider in some hidden way.
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I've been looking for the same motives as you Goodonya and I've found none. Infact, none of the audi's seem to know a think about my company based medical insurance, and they have even called to find out what it's all about. This latest audi said there will probably be some write-off deal etc etc, but when I called my insurance company they simply said, that In Network, I have to pay the first $4000 and then they would give me 80% discount on the remaining amount.

The reason they will be virtually free, is or HRA has $4500 sitting in it. This money has been gifted by the company and/or earned by us by answering health questions etc (incentives by the company my husband works for). So not all that generous really unless you have the money. By the way, the Hearingplanet.com and the audi they sent me to for a hearing test before I started all this were discounting their aids for $4000 plus giving away the bluetooth neckloop and the TV connector. But as you can see, it was worth my while going in network. Out of network I have to pay the first $8000.
 
So happy with this new Audiologist. She says the new Phonak Q series is extremely powerful and will suit me down to the ground. she said that I am also able to wear the Virto ITE or ITC as everything will fit and it will be powerful enough. I don't want ITC as my last two kept needing repairs due to the moisture. I'm just going to get ITE half shells like I have now and be happy that I don't have to get BTE just yet.

She is so efficient and pleasant and no arguments about anything.

Also our Insurance Company rates their providers and it seems all the audiologists in that practice are covered by the insurance and she, along with my GP are rated Premium Doctors which means my company think they are good all round.
 
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