Jabra Enhance: Committed to audiology
At Jabra Enhance, our commitment to audiology and professional service runs deep: Not only are we advised by some of the top audiologists in the world, but we make sure each and every Enhance Select client meets face-to-face with a licensed audiologist or hearing specialist.
However, we realize there are bound to be questions about us and our use of technology for hearing assessments and remote face-to-face care. We've created this page to help provide clarification and background to the professional community.
The science of online hearing tests
Thanks to significant technological advancements and research1 over the past few years, online hearing tests can now be used to safely and effectively fit hearing aids.2
Building on this work, we've done a considerable amount of research on a wide-range of devices and headphones, and have developed our own online hearing assessment based on what we've learned. Given our testing across different transducers and operating systems, we're confident that when augmented with face-to-face professional support and ongoing remote tunings by a licensed Jabra Enhance Hearing Specialist our test enables us to effectively fit a hearing aid and improve a client's hearing. So far, our approach has proven well-founded, as we've consistently received excellent clinical outcomes and customer satisfaction scores.
Of course, providing effective hearing care extends beyond a customer's online hearing test and initial fitting. Enhance Select customers are monitored for improvement, and our Audiology Team uses the Client Oriented Scale of Improvement (COSI) to ensure we address their specific hearing needs and goals.
Focusing on accessibility
Hearing care has an accessibility problem. In fact, 70-85% of adults 50+ with hearing loss do not receive the care they need.
We're committed to changing this. At Jabra Enhance, we use video and other telehealth technologies including online hearing assessments to make custom-tuned and professionally-reviewed hearing aids available to anyone who meets our requirements. Recent studies have shown that approaches like ours are effective at making hearing care more accessible.3
While Jabra Enhance can help increase the accessibility of hearing care, there will always be a need for traditional audiology practices. Some clients will opt for in-person care, or will need access to procedures such as otoscopy, probe-microphone measures, and advanced diagnostic testing. For these reasons, Jabra Enhance will never replace the traditional model, only augment it - and we will always let you know if we believe it is important that you be seen in person by another qualified professional.
The highest standards
We're committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulations related to online hearing aid dispensing and our legal team works closely with our Board of Advisors and company executives to ensure Jabra Enhance always upholds the highest standards of the industry.
Come grow with us
If you're a licensed audiologist or hearing aid dispenser and want to help Jabra Enhance make hearing aids and professional care more accessible, let us know. We are always looking to add qualified, caring, and passionate professionals to our team!
Frequently asked questions
Doesn't the profession of audiology have concerns about remote hearing testing and fitting hearing aids without any direct patient contact? Are audiologists involved at all in the Jabra Enhance approach to delivery of hearing aids? How can Jabra Enhance begin the hearing aid process without an audiologist first inspecting the patient's ear canal without the results of otoscopy? Aren't you concerned about the possibility of excessive ear wax or ear disease? Is the Jabra Enhance system for hearing aids appropriate for children? Are there any adult patients with hearing loss who should not get hearing aids from Jabra Enhance? I have heard that diagnostic hearing testing should be performed with calibrated equipment and with the patient sitting in a sound-treated room meeting ANSI standards. Is it possible to get accurate test results over the telephone or via the internet? You hear a lot about best practices in audiology these days. How can Jabra Enhance follow best practices if the patient never sees a hearing professional audiologist in person? On the same topic, aren't real ear measurements part of best practices? How can Jabra Enhance be sure the hearing aid fitting is appropriate for a patient without a probe mic verification? What happens after a patient buys hearing aids from Jabra Enhance? Is there any follow up to confirm that they are actually using the hearing aids, and getting some benefit from them? Does the Jabra Enhance model represent a threat to the audiology profession?
- McCaslin, Devin L. (2019) Editorial: Build a Better Hearing Assessment and the Patients Will Beat a Path to Your Clinic. Journal of the American Academy of Audiologists DOI: 10.3766/jaaa.28.2.1
- Whitton JP, Hancock KE, Shannon JM, Polley DB. (2016) Validation of a self-administered audiometry application: an equivalence study. Laryngoscope 126 (10): 2382 - 2388.
- Krumm, Mark (2016) A Review Of Contemporary Tele-audiology Literature. Journal of Hearing Science 2016 Vol. 6 · No. 3.