Tomorrow’s Health Care, Made Possible Today
The market is changing, and channels are being redefined as to how patients access hearing devices. Third-party administrators (TPA), managed care options and big-box channels are a huge part of the market—roughly one-third of all hearing devices dispensed.1
The problem with this is TPAs and big-box stores—one of the biggest channels shaking up the industry—are focused on the commodity and are only concerned about the product, rather than the fitting and long-term care of the patient.
The subset of consumers that may see the lower price tag as a win is growing, though as we all know in the audiology and ENT community, it’s really a loss. No medical model. No long-haul continuum of care, with professional, ongoing counseling.
Don’t lose your patients to a point-of-sale. With a Fuel partnership, you can compete with TPAs and big-box retailers at the clinical level with our novel solution—the Access Hearing program.
Access Hearing: As Simple as Apples & Oranges
Premium hearing devices with premium services can be identified as our ‘apple’. What is being sold by TPAs and big-box stores are ‘oranges’. With the Access Hearing program, Fuel has created an ‘orange’ with a different product offering at low-cost for audiologists and ENTs to compete.
Currently, a clinic’s go-to competition options have been either opting-in to third-party networks and accepting their contracted fitting and service fees, or discounting their ‘apple’s, their premium hearing aids, to the point where it cuts into their overhead and limits what they can offer their patients.
With Access Hearing, you don’t have to do either, but instead are provided with a quality solution, so your patient is fit with the technology they need, and you, as a provider, can maintain appropriate care in a medical model while still earning a profit.
“One of the things that TPAs and big-box retailers have done is that they turned hearing aid treatment into simply a product transaction—it’s all about the hearing aid. And what they usually give with the hearing aid is a fit and a couple follow-ups. They don’t provide any of the professional services. Fuel understands the value of the medical model and we build our partnerships and programs around it.”
Dan Quall, MS, CCC-ADirector of Strategic Initiatives
Unlock the Continuum of Care of the Future
Housing every part of the patient journey under one roof is just smart business, whether in the hearing and health care arena or not.
- A choice of premium & advanced product offerings
- Robust service package options
- Ability to provide extended service contracts
Want to learn more about a Fuel partnership and the full benefits of the Access Hearing program? Call us for a financial comparison or an evaluation of margin per clinical hour today.
[1] Kim, S. (2020, January 10). MarkeTrak 10: Hearing Aids in an Era of Disruption and DTC/OTC Devices.