Public Policy Agenda - 2021 - 15

Audiologists specialize in
preventing and assessing hearing
and balance disorders as well as
providing audiologic treatment,
include hearing aids.

Speech-language pathologists
identify, assess, and treat speech
and language problems, including
swallowing disorders.

Sources
1. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services; Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning
and Evaluation. (2020). ASPE Issue Brief: Medicare Beneficiary Use Of Telehealth Visits:
Early Data From The Start Of The COVID-19 Pandemic. https://aspe.hhs.gov/pdf-report/
medicare-beneficiary-use-telehealth.
2. Tenforde, A., Borgstrom, H., Polich, G., Steere, H., Davis, I., Cotton, K., O'Donnell, M.,
Silver, J. (2020) Outpatient Physical, Occupational, and Speech Therapy Synchronous
Telemedicine: A Survey Study of Patient Satisfaction with Virtual Visits During the COVID-19
Pandemic. American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, pg. 4.
3. Black LI, Vahratian A, Hoffman HJ. Communication disorders and use of intervention
services among children aged 3-17 years: United States, 2012. NCHS data brief, no 205.
Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2015.
4. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2020). Annual workforce data: 2019
ASHA-Certified Audiologist- and Speech-Language Pathologist-to-Population Ratios.
https://www.asha.org/siteassets/uploadedfiles/2019-Audiologist-and-SLP-to-PopulationRatios.pdf.
5. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018). 2018 Summary of National CDC EHDI
Data. https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/hearingloss/2018-data/01-data-summary.html.

ASHA 2021 Public Policy Agenda | 15

https://aspe.hhs.gov/pdf-report/medicare-beneficiary-use-telehealth https://aspe.hhs.gov/pdf-report/medicare-beneficiary-use-telehealth https://www.asha.org/siteassets/uploadedfiles/2019-Audiologist-and-SLP-to-Population-Ratios.pdf https://www.asha.org/siteassets/uploadedfiles/2019-Audiologist-and-SLP-to-Population-Ratios.pdf https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/hearingloss/2018-data/01-data-summary.html

Public Policy Agenda - 2021

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