I’m working on a health & medical question and need the explanation and answer to help me learn.
Pick 1 of the 2 prompts below and write a paper.
Your job is to a pick a prompt and convince me of your stance on the question presented.
1.) Telehealth has become much more prevalent in our post-pandemic society. Do you think telehealth is viable for audiology?
2.) Researchers are working on a cure for sensorineural hearing loss (age related loss, noise induced hearing loss, etc.) We’re not close to a cure, but do you think audiologists will have a place in medicine if they ever do cure sensorineural hearing loss?
Expert Solution Preview
Introduction: Telehealth and audiology have now become two important topics in today’s medical fraternity, with telehealth becoming an increasingly popular option for medical care delivery. On the other hand, the hearing loss conditions are a great challenge in medical care management and have several possible treatments. In this paper, we will discuss prompt one, which is whether telehealth is viable in audiology, focusing on the advantages and limitations of implementing telehealth in the field of audiology.
Answer: Telehealth has witnessed a significant surge in demand since the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. The adoption of this technology has expanded to many specialties, including audiology. Telehealth has certainly become an attractive alternative for the delivery of health services due to its ability to overcome geographical barriers, enhance accessibility to care, and reduce the overall cost of medical care.
Telehealth can be viable in audiology, but it can’t be a complete replacement for in-person appointments. Audiology involves physical evaluations of the ear, including visual inspection and hearing assessments. However, certain assessment procedures that don’t require extensive physical intervention, such as speech recognition tests, can be conducted with telehealth. It also assists patients with hearing aid programming, troubleshooting, and making modifications. Telehealth also allows audiologists to provide hearing aid counselling, address any patient concerns and queries, and provide follow-up care.
Additionally, telehealth can save time and costs for both audiologists and patients. The technology can reduce travel time and expenses for patients, especially for those who reside far from medical facilities. It can significantly improve the accessibility of the audiology service, thus increasing patient engagement and satisfaction. Telehealth can also reduce the workload of the audiology clinic, as fewer patients require in-person visits, thereby allowing for more efficient appointment scheduling and staffing.
However, telehealth has its limitations, including a limited scope of physical examination of the ear. Human ear anatomy is intricate, and physical examinations of the ear with otoscope and pneumatic otoscopy are essential. The accuracy of tele-audiology assessments is also limited by variations in the image size and quality of using non-medical devices. Additionally, there may be equipment issues, such as the patient’s hearing aid not connecting to the audiologist’s computer or software glitches.
In conclusion, telehealth is a viable consideration in audiology that can offer numerous benefits. Still, it can’t replace in-person audiology evaluations that involve a complete visual and tactile examination of the ear. Telehealth can work together with traditional audiology practise to enhance the quality of patient care, ensure accessibility to audiology services, and reduce costs. Therefore, telehealth can be useful, but it is essential not to over-rely on this technology in audiology.
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