November 8, 2018 – OTC Hearing Aid?

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Anchor lead: Will the new Bose hearing aid open the market and improve access? Elizabeth Tracey reports

Hearing loss is common as people age, and is associated with an increased risk of dementia. Research is ongoing on whether hearing aids can slow that trajectory, and now a newly approved device developed by Bose is poised to radically change the market and perhaps encourage more people to use the devices. That’s according to Nicolas Reed, an audiologist and researcher at Johns Hopkins.

Reed: It could open the floodgates to a lot of companies entering quicker, and this is a good thing for the consumer. The more companies involved in this space and the different tiers of hearing care that are out there – self-fitting, eventually over the counter, direct to consumer,  via the Internet, typical gold standard via an audiologist, this changes the price and it gives you more possible entryways, and to me that’s the name of the game, it’s a big part of why people aren’t adopting hearing aids cause they don’t have that chance right now.   :27

Reed welcomes Bose’s hearing aid as perhaps how people may more easily begin using the devices. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.