January 6, 2010

I went to two nursing homes today; the first being Hampton Care Center.  The first patient was Paula.  She had a mild to moderate high frequency SNHL and did not meet the MMIS requirements for a hearing aid through the Medicaid program.  She was counseled as such, and did not feel that she needed a hearing aid in particular.  The second patient was.  Her main concern was wax which was affecting her hearing adversely.  I removed two significant pieces of wax from her ears using a curved buck curette.  She immediately voiced improvement in her hearing.  She had a mild to moderate high frequency SNHL with asymmetry at 3000 Hz, but did not feel she needed a hearing aid.  The next patient was Menika; she was a simple check for wax in the ears.  I removed a small piece of wax with a curette from her left ear.  The forth patient was Helen.  I did not actually see her, just replaced the oto-clips on her ITE hearing aids.  The fifth patient was Antoinnete; she was completely unresponsive to all forms of testing and not a suitable candidate for amplification.  The last patient was Margaret; whose hearing aid was completely non-functional and taken for repair.  The next stop was Riverhead Care Center.  There were only two patients for earmold impressions Fred and Mary.  While I was at Riverhead Care Center I chatted with a lawyer who has an 8 year old daughter that wears Phonak hearing aids, and he was inquiring about a connection to a cell phone.  I informed him that I would be in touch with him via email and give him information about the iCom so he could investigate whether this would be a feasible option for his daughter.  The day was complete after that.