Children’s Hearing Aid Program Advisory Committee

UNAPPROVED ~ Minutes

Children’s Hearing Aid Program Advisory Committee

November 29, 2016

Committee Members

Present: Jeremy Meier, Brooke Edwards, Kim Frandsen, Paula Pittman, Shannon White, Stephanie McVicar, Jenny Pedersen, Heidi Ellsworth

UDOH Staff Present: Jenny Pedersen

Stephanie McVicar

Absent:

Note Taker: Heidi Ellsworth

Agenda Item / Discussion / Action Needed
1) Welcome, Public Comment, & Review 8.23.16 minutes / ·  Approved minutes from last meeting
·  No public comments
2) Progress Report: How many hearing aids fitted how many are failing their hearing test state wide, what kind of hearing loss are we seeing in the program? / ·  Jenny went over the report that is sent in each year to the Legislation about the progress of the program.
·  The report just goes over any changed that have been made to the program, the outcome of those changes, how many children were done in 2016, where they are at in the program, how many were fitted, what their diagnoses was and etc.
·  This year we are at 31,000 which is close to the target.
·  Last year we had 36 and this year so far it has been 16 but Jenny has been getting more application each day.
·  Jenny went over the statistics for the children in the program.
·  In the last year the program has seen younger children come into the program. It was usually an average of 9 months and now the program is seeing children as young as 4 months.
·  Only 12 families didn’t meet the criteria to enroll in the program and that was due to their high income. This shows that the program is able to benefit the majority of the needed population.
·  When an application comes in and they don’t meet the criteria for the program, Jenny goes over the application and talks to the family to make sure they put everything they needed into the application. Most of the time the family doesn’t consider all their medical bills when applying. There have been very few that just don’t qualify because the family’s income is too high.
3) Marketing CHAP / ·  Jeremy feels like whenever any Audiologist has to refer an infant that they should mention the CHAP program.
·  Give them to doctor offices.
·  Get testimonies from families in the program and upload them to our website.
·  Do a highlight on the website of a family and child.
·  Have PIP help out with explain the parent notebook
·  Puts ads on webpages of childhood diseases that often involve hearing loss.
·  Try to get a news spot to highlight the program. / ·  Create mock ups of posters we can use to promote the program.
·  Talk to doctor offices about putting some brochures in their office.
4) Discuss: Flyers for the Utah OTO-Updated meeting / ·  There are not any meetings at this point to hand out the flyer.
5) Application Questions / ·  A family has applied for the program that has a child who has significant hearing loss in one ear and minor in the other. They want to do more testing on the other ear before they get a fitted hearing aid for that ear. The problem with that is the fee for fittings is pretty high. The question is if this family does decide to get the second ear fitted do we pay for the fee? Do they need to reapply to get that fee? Should there be a time length that we set as a deadline on two fittings? What should be our policy on fittings to avoid circumstances like this? How do we keep people from taking advantage of the program?
·  One suggestion is that if the times for the two fittings are pretty close together that the fee should be waived.
·  Another suggestion is that if there is a chance the other ear could need a hearing aid that both ears could be fitted and then if the child doesn’t need the other hearing aid they can return it or make adjustments for the hearing aid. That would be an easier process than dealing with two fittings.
6) Discuss: The survey’s and results / ·  The survey resulted in a lot of good feedback and a positive experience with the program.
·  A quarter of the families who took the survey found out about the program through EI.
·  Paula’s staff is big fans of the CHAP program because they work with families that would not be able to give their child the needed hearing aids if it wasn’t for the program.
·  This program is really beneficially to families with a child who has other major disabilities other than hearing loss. They are so overwhelmed with other medical bills that hearing aids are not even on their radar to think about but with the program it can relieve some of the financial stress.
·  1 in 7 said that they just wouldn’t have gotten the hearing aids if it wasn’t for the program.
·  Discussion on testing for ABR and inner ear issues.
·  Parents commented on how their pediatrician should have more knowledge and training when it comes to hearing loss. Most of the time the parents don’t realize the significant until there is a failed test and they have to see a specialist.
·  Zero percent heard about the program from their family physician. They are all hearing about the program from other sources.
·  There are about 60 children around the state each year that have significant hearing loss and don’t know about the program.
7) Future Meetings for the next year / ·  Feb 28th 2017 2:30-3:30
8) Meeting Adjourn