Audiology Connections - 2022 - 34

NEW MEMBER ADVISORY GROUPS
New Member Advisory Groups Collaborate With
ASHA Audiology
ASHA Audiology is excited to
announce to the creation of two new
member advisory groups (MAGs)
with the focus areas of teleaudiology
and technology. MAGs offer a great
opportunity for ASHA staff and
member subject matter experts to
collaborate on exciting and rapidly
evolving clinical practice areas. ASHA
has more than 45 committees/boards/
councils, each serving a purpose to
work in partnership with members to
improve professional development
in audiology and speech-language
pathology.
The launch of these newly created
audiology MAGs will help provide
practical input in teleaudiology and
technology within various practice
areas, such as hospitals and private
practice. The MAGs will create and
revise audiology resources, enhance
member engagement, and work
closely with ASHA's Government Affairs
and Public Policy (GAPP) team on
legislative policies and action items.
Audiologists have been providing
services via telehealth for many
years. With the COVID-19 pandemic
disrupting audiologists' ability to
provide continual care to patients,
teleaudiology has grown exponentially.
The teleaudiology MAG launched
in April 2021. Prior to the pandemic,
ASHA had advocated for Centers
for Medicare & Medicaid Services
(CMS) coverage for teleaudiology
and telepractice, dating back to
2010. The number of clinicians
using teleaudiology services has
increased dramatically since the
start of the pandemic-as of October
2020, ASHA COVID tracker survey
results revealed a 26% increase in the
number of audiologists who provide
teleaudiology/remote audiology
services compared with before the
onset of the pandemic. As the number
of audiologists offering teleaudiology
services continues trending upward,
ASHA and the teleaudiology MAG are
developing resources that will enable
clinicians to provide the best care,
even if those clinicians are not sitting
face-to-face in addition to the increase
of teleaudiology services, technology
advancements have occurred at an
accelerated rate since the pandemic
began. Long-awaited over-thecounter
(OTC) hearing aid proposed
regulations were released by the Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) in
October 2021 and will likely expand
the role of the audiologist as patients
seek help with OTCs. In addition,
innovative advances in technology-
such as artificial intelligence, laptopbased
audiometers that extend
services to " outside the booth, " and
advancements in hearing aid and
cochlear implant speech processing-
are giving audiologists exciting ways to
help evaluate and treat patients.
The audiology MAGs will be working
hard to ensure that ASHA is able to
provide audiologists with support,
strategies, and high-quality resources
in their day-to-day clinical practice.
If you have interest in joining an
audiology MAG or questions about
how to get involved, please email
audiology@asha.org.
Bria Collins, AuD, CCC-A,
Associate Director,
Audiology Practices, ASHA
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2022 AUDIOLOGY CONNECTIONS asha.org/aud
http://www.asha.org/aud
Audiology Connections - 2022

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