Survey: Dispensers fitted more hearing aids in 2005 at higher prices

The results of the annual survey of hearing aid dispensers conducted in January by The Hearing Journal (HJ) and Audiology Online (AO) indicate that last year was a generally healthy one for the dispensing community. The nearly 500 dispensing audiologists and hearing instrument specialists who responded to the e-mail survey sent to AO subscribers and to members of the International Hearing Society reported fitting more hearing aids per respondent than those surveyed a year earlier. What’s more, among dispensers willing to hazard a prediction, 70% expect to dispense more hearing aids this year than last, while fewer than 3% expect to dispense fewer. In addition, respondents reported that the average retail price of the hearing aids they sold in 2005 was $1836, $60 more than reported in our survey for 2004. And, for the first time in several years, the survey found that prices for instruments in specific categories of style and technology rose from the year before. Some of these results supported the findings reported in our March 2006 cover story, which focused on the results of a section of the survey on the economics of dispensing. This section included questions on the salaries of non-owner dispensing professionals and the revenues and profits of private practices. Among the findings were that more than twice as many respondents said that their practices’ revenues and profits increased in 2005 as said they declined from 2004.