MM109 - Our Experience Removing Barriers to Hearing Care: VPATH

Abstract:
Throughout the US, there are barriers to accessing hearing healthcare. Untreated hearing loss has negative effects at individual and societal levels, increasing the economic burden on our population. To address this, VPATH was formed as a sustainable hearing care program for underserved populations in the Nashville metro area. Establishing VPATH required forming relationships with partner organizations and creating a business plan, including the organization of clinic space, provider availability, and financial resources. This presentation will walk attendees through disparities in access, how we addressed them, the obstacles we faced, and how other audiology groups may apply this.

Summary:
It is established that hearing aid amplification provides significant improvement to individuals with impaired hearing. There are resources in many states to help support this for children and in some, but not all, states for adults. Through her work with a local charity organization, the presenter (JR) became aware of a large group of adults in our community who did not have the same access to hearing care as our patients with insurance or the financial means to pay out of pocket for potentially life-changing hearing aid amplification. Since our medical center clinics are bound to budgetary obligations and managed care contracts, we worked with partners to identify patient barriers to care and solutions that would allow these community members to receive the care they need while mitigating the negative impact on our clinics. Using this strategy, we now have an ongoing system that meets this community’s needs in a sustainable way to the program. In this presentation, we will identify barriers to hearing healthcare, explain how Vanderbilt Patient Access To Hearing (VPATH) was formed, and demonstrate how VPATH can potentially serve as a model for other sustainable hearing care programs.

Our VPATH patient population consists of undocumented, uninsured, underinsured, and low-income adults with limited access to hearing healthcare. Patients referred to VPATH receive hearing evaluations through our clinic and hearing aids through partner organizations and donor funds. VPATH’s clinic utilizes one hearing aid room and one hearing booth for half a day, twice a month. Within VPATH’s first year of operation, 45 hearing evaluations were completed and 27 devices were fit on 15 patients. We began conservatively with a half day of clinic twice a month to ensure VPATH’s sustainability since clinic resources are being used and services are being written off for the majority of these patients. With double the amount of clinic time and financial resources, we will be able to help more individuals and have a larger impact. By the end of VPATH’s first year, we were scheduling patients out two months.

We believe that VPATH is evidence that this type of outreach is necessary, feasible, and successful. VPATH’s first year of operation had setbacks, which ultimately led us to be flexible and adapt to address said obstacles without sacrificing patient care. VPATH has and will continue to directly address the disparities in access to hearing healthcare.

Brief Summary of Clinical Takeaways:
Our clinical takeaway is that the primary barriers to hearing care were language, socioeconomic status, citizenship status, and financial limitations. To effectively create and run an assistance program, one must understand their current medical system, the costs of running a program and partner with organizations that share their goals.