Have you missed your name being called at the doctor’s office? What about when visiting your hearing care provider? Sadly, this is a common occurrence for people with hearing loss, who must either sit at high attention constantly scanning the waiting area for someone who might be saying their name or risk missing out.
Even in a small office, it can be difficult for people with hearing loss to know when it is their turn to be seen. Hearing-loss-friendly office procedures can help put your clients at ease.
Make Your Medical Office Hearing-Loss-Friendly
In this clip from my talk at the Audiology Australia 2025 Conference on person-centered care from the patient’s perspective, I share tips to make your medical office hearing-loss-friendly. Easy to implement, these small updates in office procedures can make your practice more welcoming and easier to navigate for the 50 million Americans with hearing loss.
The video is captioned, but you might need to toggle the captions on in YouTube, depending on your settings. For those who prefer a transcript, I provide it below.
Video Transcript
Use hearing-friendly office procedures. So, even in a small office it can sometimes be hard for people with hearing loss to hear when their name is called, so maybe let them know that someone will come over and and get them or tap them on the shoulder when it’s their turn to see the audiologist. This way, they can just sit in the waiting room and relax like other people do when they’re waiting to see the doctor. And, of course, this means things like captioning on any telehealth appointments are automatically turned on, and if there’s a TV in the waiting room, the captions need to be on there as well, of course.
Tips for People with Hearing Loss
As people with hearing loss, we have responsibilities as well. We must self-identify as someone with hearing loss and ask the receptionist if they can alert us personally or via text when it is our turn. Unfortunately, we may need to remind them if they seem unsure or if the office is busy. For telehealth, request that captions be available when making the appointment so the office can prepare in advance if this is something new for them.
It is important to remember that these requests are not “annoying” or “unreasonable.” We have the right to good communication, especially at a medical office. Each time we advocate for ourselves, we are smoothing the path for those who come next.
Readers, do your doctors use hearing-loss-friendly office procedures?
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