There are so many hearing aid brands and hearing aid retailers across the world, but many of them are actually owned by some of the big hearing aid players. For instance, Connect Hearing in Canada and the US is owned by Sonova, the corporation that owns Phonak amongst other brands. Hidden Hearing in the UK is owned by Demant, the owner of the Oticon brand. Hearing Tracker, a website in the US has published a map of the industry with all the pertinent details for a couple of years now. They have just released a newly designed up to date version on their website and it will help you to understand who you are dealing with and if they are owned by a hearing aid manufacturer.

Covid-19 has disrupted many businesses and services and healthcare is one of them. We recently came across a hearing practice in South Carolina that is pulling out the stops to deliver outstanding hearing care to its existing and new clients.

New guidance has been released for hearing care professionals in the UK and many of the clinics are beginning to re-open and offer services. In general, the services are being offered under new conditions and procedures. One example of a clinic working to keep them and their customers safe is Lanarkshire Hearing Centre. Here is what they are doing and why it matters to you.

Many hearing aid providers across the world are closed in response to restrictions in place around COVID-19 spread. However, while many have their doors closed, they are still assisting their patients. Here is what you need to know.

One of the largest Independent Hearing Care Providers in Australia has been purchased by Amplifon. It makes sense for Attune customers as Amplifon is a global leading Independent hearing care business.

The people at Worcester Hearing Centre 30 years’ experience providing custom solutions for people’s hearing needs. As an Independent hearing aid centre they provide the very best hearing aids from the leading hearing aid brands combined with the highest level of service.

As long as I can remember I have been hearing that Boots Hearing Care would enter the Irish market, well it looks like 2019 is the year with their announcement of the opening of two hearing care outlets in Dublin.

We are very happy to welcome Dr Cliff Olson and Applied Hearing Solutions to the Hearing Aid Know Network. Dr Olson's name has become synonymous with clear and honest hearing aid and hearing care advice on his Youtube channel. His outlook and ethos chimes with ours and we are happy to have him on the network. Truly, if you are looking for hearing aids in Phoenix, Arizona, well then this is the place to start.

Buying hearing aids online? Well then don't get ripped off by Nano Hearing Aids. We recently wrote an article about nanohearingaids.com who are basically ripping off American consumers. They haven't stopped, so we decided to update our advice for buying hearing aids online for 2019. Let's talk about what you need to consider when buying hearing aids online. We will cover who we think are good, we will explain why Nano is a rip off and we will discuss the Blamey and Saunders standard.

The Which? 2018 survey of best hearing aid providers finds that independent hearing aid providers are rated top again. There were some interesting findings, let's take a look.

In the latest Which survey you can find out how the NHS and private providers compare for individual aspects of service. There are some significant differences that might surprise you.

Salem Audiology Clinic in Salem Oregon joins the Independent hearing care network. Salem Audiology, which was founded in 1982, continues to provide the very best hearing aid aids from the leading brands aligned with outstanding levels of aftercare.

Hearing Care is changing and Independents are leading the charge, one of our associated hearing centres in Nottingham is introducing a whole new concept in hearing care. We talked briefly to them about it and it sounds interesting, we will know more about it soon when they introduce it in the New Year.

We received a glowing review of Vibrant Hearing recently, one of our associated Independent hearing aid centres. Vibrant is owned and managed by Brenda Quinn Hays and she provides hearing care and hearing aids in Newcastle

One of our associated hearing aid centres will bring their high quality hearing care services, ear wax removal and the very best hearing aids to a new hearing aid centre in Auchterarder soon. Just recently, the owners both received Highly Commended Awards in the Audiologist of The Year 2017 competition

Greg Clements has been a friend of ours for many years, he is a respected hearing healthcare professional and a very decent man. We have often spoke about continuity, Greg is reaching the age where he has started to worry about what happens to his customers after he decides to retire. He found the answer recently and Clements Hearing now joins the Black and Lizars hearing care network.

Quality Hearing Aids has two hearing aid centres in Las Vegas offering the very best hearing aids with outstanding care and attention. Steve Romeo and the team have built an excellent reputation for remarkable hearing solutions and high levels of aftercare. So if you are looking for hearing aids in Vegas, this is definitely the place for you.

Correct Hearing Limited who provide Independent advice on hearing care, hearing tests and hearing aids in Nottingham have now joined the Know Providers Network. They are an Independent family run business with long experience of the providing best in class hearing care.

Steve recently had a set of LiNX 3D fitted to him and he has been raving about them ever since. We thought we would introduce you to the guy who fitted them and his Practice in High Wycombe, Bucks

Hearing Matters are a long established Independent Hearing Health Care Provider in the Greater Manchester area. They are heighly respected clinical Audiologists who deliver outstanding levels of care and services like balance assessments, ear wax removal and hearing aids. They have opened a Hearing Aid Centre in Knutsford that will allow their Cheshire customers a shorter journey to receive care.

The British Legion manages a hearing fund for UK veterans that will pay for hearing aids or hearing equipment for UK Veterans. The fund is a fantastic idea and more and more hearing healthcare practices are becoming experienced in assisting Veterans with hearing loss get access to it

Buying hearing aids in Hull, well then we think we have a great place for you to start your journey to better hearing. Abid Khan of The Yorkshire Hearing Centre is one of the newest members of our hearing aid centre network. His is dedicated clinical centre that offers far more than the latest digital hearing devices

Hearing Aid Know has become an accepted site for honest and clear advice on hearing aids over the last few years. We have now decided that we want to be the go to place for advice on hearing aid centres in the UK and Ireland as well. So we have begun a concerted effort to detail Independent Hearing Healthcare Providers across the UK and Ireland, who they are and what they offer.

400 Which? Members who had bought a hearing aid in the past 3 years were recently surveyed to find out about their hearing aid buying experiences in the UK. Results were based on a survey conducted between 28th March and 8th April 2014 of 407 Which? Connect members who had bought a hearing aid within the previous 3 years. 80 local independent retailers along with 255 national retailers made up the sample.

Are you in Cork, Munster or Leinster and looking for a hearing aid? If you are, I highly recommend you check out Audiology Medical Services, they are a family-run independent practice offering the latest in hearing aid technology and a great service as well. Charles Lewis and his family have been working in audiology for over 43 years and draw upon that experience to give great advice and help to locals looking for hearing aids, tinnitus

Walgreens have partnered with Connect Hearing to sell hearing aids in a small number of Walgreens stores as a trial to see if dispensing from big-brand pharmacies is a viable business model. Connect Hearing is owned by Sonova, the Swiss hearing aid manufacturer, which owns the Phonak and Unitron hearing aid brands. In response to a HearingHealthMatters articles about this partnership, Sonova’s Michael Issac confirmed that Walgreens stores in

When buying hearing aids there are two things you need to get right: find the right hearing aid at the right price and find the right person to fit it for you. hearingtracker.com helps you with both, it’s a website that contains a long list of hearing providers and hearing aids, with patient reviews of both. Hearing Tracker was founded by Dr. Abram Bailey, a registered audiologist, to help bring information and data to patients that helps us to

Blamey & Saunders Hearing are a supplier of self-programmable hearing aids, they also sell Neurotone’s listening enhancement (LACE) software to compliment their hearing aid range. Dr. Daniel Taft, Australia Hears’ Chief Technology Officer, was kind enough to take the time to answer some questions about LACE. Can you give us a brief introduction to LACE? [Daniel Taft] LACE stands for Listening And Communication Enhancement. It was designed by

?A HEARING aid dispenser has been banned for ignoring a patient’s ear infection until it was so smelly the pensioner wouldn’t leave the house. Specsavers worker Pauline Lutwyche’s advice to the elderly woman was to put Vaseline in her ear. The Health Professions Council (HPC) was told doctors later diagnosed a perforated ear drum. Misconduct charges were found against the 62-year-old of Warren House Walk, Sutton Coldfield, who was banned from

I get quite a few emails from people asking which hearing aid is best but no-one has ever asked which audiologist is best. I think the second question is just as important as the first, maybe even more so. When you buy a hearing aid you are paying for the audiologists time as well as for the hearing aid itself. The time costs more than the piece of plastic you will put in your ear and what’s really important for you is that once you’ve been

Europe’s top award for hearing professionals is back. Audiologist of the Year 2011 is a chance for hearing patients to celebrate the skills of professionals across the continent. Now in its fourth year, the respected award encourages nominations for professionals who excel in their duties and is a chance for patients to shout about their own audiologist. Reward and recognise your audiologist by telling us just what makes them so special. We

A hearing expert who drove over 200 miles to help a patient is the pride of Scotland after being named the UK’s Audiologist of the Year for 2010. David Bryce, who is from Aberdeen, has been chosen as the nation’s top hearing professional in a competition voted for by patients around the UK. The competition is run by hearing aid battery maker Rayovac, the manufacturer of the world’s number one selling zinc air hearing aid batteries. It encourages

Looking to buy a new hearing aid? They are sold in a few different ways these days, here’s a description of each: This is the most common way that a hearing aid is sold. If you go to a high-street or independent retailer then this is how you will be sold an aid. Basically, you pay one lump-sum for everything: the hearing aid itself, the audiologist’s time, the hearing test, the fitting, the programming and the after care.

Below is a list of some of the hearing aid sellers in the UK. I’ve listed the major high-street chains but there are also many, many independent audiologists and sellers operating all over the UK as well. David Ormerod centres are found in more than 200 Boots branches nationwide. Their website is here. You can book an appointment with them online. To find your nearest David Ormerod branch, go here.

If you live in or around Oxfordshire, UK then I highly recommend Banbury Hearing Centre as a great audiologist and hearing aid vendor. I’ve been there twice recently to be fitted with a new pair of Starkey S Series aids and have received a really first-class service. John Enderbury is the audiologist there. I had two one-hour appointments with him – both of which stretched over the hour because John took the time to explain my new aid’s features

For many years Specsavers in St Sepulchre Gate has run a successful scheme to recycle unwanted spectacles and Nick Finn, the hearcare director, is launching a similar campaign to get people across Doncaster to give their old hearing aids to the charity Sound Seekers for people in countries such as The Gambia, Zambia and Sierra Leone. Said Nick: “This is one of the first schemes anywhere in the country to offer people the chance to recycle

“You can use those Starkey Destinys but a pair of Oticon Epochs would be much better for you. The Epochs are cutting-edge tech” said the audiologist. “Why would the Epochs be better?” I asked. “The technology is far more advanced…. ” he replied. I’m sure an Oticon Epoch is more advanced than a Starkey Destiny but I really wanted that audiologist to tell me why the Epochs would allow me to hear better. I wanted to know how they’d sound different,

Italian hearing aid retailer Amplifon is undertaking a major expansion in the UK and a £10m rebranding exercise. The company currently trades under the Ultratone, SieTech and Hearing Health names, these will be replaced with the single Amplifon brand – the new branding is being handled by the London-based Saatchi group this July. The company, which is listed on the Milan Stock Exchange, also plans to open an additional 22 stores in the UK, three

Rayovac batteries and Audio Infos are looking for the Audiologist Of The Year 2008. Good service, sound advice and excellent care are what you expect from your audiologist or dispenser. When they deliver, it can make a tremendous difference to your life – so why not help your audiologist or dispenser get the recognition they deserve? Has your audiologist or dispenser gone beyond the call of duty? Have they helped in difficult or unusual

Hearing aid vendors supply both a product (the aid) and a service (fitting, maintenance, etc). To my mind, these are two completely separate things. I’m writing about this because I popped into my local Scrivens branch last weekend – I was waiting for my Wife and just happened to notice the “Hearing Care” sign in their window – to ask for a price list. I knew from previous experiences with other suppliers that it was unlikely that they’d have a

A Sacramento man paid for hearing aids he didn’t get and now the salesman has disappeared. James Barnwell is back to using his 10-year old hearing aids. “It’s getting harder and harder to hear where the sounds coming from.” That’s why last February he went to River City hearing center in Fair Oaks. Purchase agreement, he paid $3,800 and in about a month got his hearing aids. But, he says they weren’t what he’d ordered.

David Ormerod Hearing Centres achieved £30m in sales for the financial year ended September 2007 and projects growth to £36m for 2008. The company, which operates from 200 locations nationwide including Boots high street stores, NHS hospital audiology departments and standalone centres, said group sales rose by 42% from the financial year 2006 to 2007 through increased market share, expansion of the store network and acquisitions.

UK readers may be interested to know that Oxford Hearing Centre are doing a buy-one-get-one-free offer on Rayovac Proline hearing aid batteries. The offer runs from the 1st to the 28th of February and covers sizes 10, 13 and 312.

A SENIOR hearing specialist at the Great Western Hospital has admitted selling NHS stock on eBay during work hours – then using hospital franking machines to send off his sales. Paul Jones, 28, was yesterday given a 16-week suspended sentence and 280 hours’ community service by Swindon magistrates after he admitted selling £276 of hearing aid batteries on the Internet auction site. The senior audiologist pocketed around £600 from his sales,

The Business In Wales website reports that David Omerod has appeared in the Sunday Times’ list of top 100 fastest growing UK companies. The Sunday Times Fast Track 100 ranks companies based on sales growth over three years – either 2003-06 or 2004-07. “Ranked 79th is Llandudno-based hearing aid supplier David Ormerod Hearing Centres. Its revenues grew on average by 67.6% annually from 2003-06, which resulted in sales rising £4.3m to £20.3m.

Amplifon is a hearing aid vendor. They have outlets in the USA, UK and across mainland Europe. I noticed on their UK site that they are offering a free one-month trial on all hearing aids. That means: you get to try out a new pair of aids for one month without paying out a penny; you only hand over your hard-earned if you wish to keep the aids at the end of the trial month. As far as I’m aware both Specsavers’ and David Ormerod’s both still make

The owner of two Connecticut hearing aid centers has pleaded guilty to a federal health care fraud charge. Walter Rochefort, 51, of Avon, owns one hearing center in Bristol and another in Plainville. According to court records, between September 2001 and August 2006, Rochefort submitted false claims for hearing aids and hearing-aid services. Rochefort also has more than 50 state criminal charges pending in New Britain Superior Court. Last

It’s all about cool at the moment, isn’t it? Widex bling. Phonak making personal communication aids. Looks like hearing aid dispenser Amplifon want in on the act as they have employed Saatchi & Saatchi to improve their brand image. Industry@Saatchi strategy partner Andy Bell says: “Getting a hearing aid is thought of as a negative experience, something that many consumers will avoid for as long as possible.

David Ormerod Hearing Centre are running an offer on Rayovac hearing aid batteries. The offer is running until 31st August 2007. The normal price for a packet of 6 Rayovac batteries is around £3; this offer is undercutting that and it’s a case of the more you buy, the more you save. Well worth taking advantage of this offer and stocking up now while they are cheap. The offer is for all battery sizes. If you don’t know the size of battery your

I was doing some shopping in my local Boots last week and, because I had 15 minutes to spare, I decided to pop into the in-store David Ormerod Hearing Centre that to check out there service and prices. No-one else was waiting or being seen by the assistant so I was shown straight in. I briefly explained my situation to her: Currently have analogue ITEs that aren’t powerful anymore and am looking to go digital. I asked her what brands they were