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A report in The Hearing Review describes how hearing care practices are responding to difficulty hiring audiologists by shifting suitable tasks to trained support staff, using students and adjusting schedules. The approaches are examples from individual clinic leaders, not evidence of a single proven model or measured industry-wide results.
Hearing care practices facing difficulty hiring audiologists are trying to serve patients by reorganizing clinic work, training support employees and changing how appointments are scheduled, according to a report by The Hearing Review. Clinic leaders interviewed for the report said these steps can free audiologists to focus on clinical work, though the material does not provide outcome data showing how widely the approaches are used or how much they reduce wait times.
Hunter Gerhart, director of audiology at Livingston Hearing Aid Centers, said hiring audiologists has been extremely difficult for his organization, which operates in Texas and other states. He said he assumes other practices across the country are facing similar challenges. The report describes the resulting pressures as packed schedules, longer waits for patients and possible provider burnout, while noting that practices are also continuing recruitment efforts.
One approach is to identify which appointments and tasks require an audiologist and which can be handled by a trained colleague. Gerhart cited Bluetooth pairing and instruction on hearing aid cleaning as tasks that may be delegated. Kira Savin, president of California Hearing Center and Audiology Associates of Westchester, said assistants in her California offices can troubleshoot devices, prepare hearing aids and provide patient education. She said New York rules do not allow her to use audiology assistants there, illustrating that staffing options can differ by state.
Practices may also train existing employees to provide basic support and help screen appointment requests. Savin said front-office staff can ask triage questions, address some straightforward device problems and identify issues that may not require a clinician visit. For rural locations, Gerhart described a workforce that is split evenly between audiologists and hearing instrument specialists. The report also points to interns and externs at nearby audiology programs as potential clinic support, while scheduling changes such as block scheduling are presented as another way to protect clinicians’ time.
How Clinics Can Preserve Clinical Time
These approaches matter because staff shortages can affect both access and workload: patients may wait longer, while clinicians face schedules filled with tasks that do not always require their expertise. Separating clinical duties from routine education, troubleshooting and administrative screening could allow audiologists to devote more time to assessment and programming. That is the rationale described by the clinic leaders, rather than a measured result established by the report.
The options are not interchangeable everywhere. State rules, practice size and local hiring pools shape whether a clinic can employ assistants, use hearing instrument specialists or host students. Delegation also depends on training and oversight; moving work to support staff does not mean every task is suitable for them. For patients, the practical question is whether these changes preserve access to an appropriate clinician while making common, lower-complexity needs easier to address.
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Staffing Models Differ by State
The report frames these operational changes against a reported difficulty recruiting and retaining qualified audiologists. It does not supply national vacancy figures, a survey of practices or a quantified estimate of patient delays. Its examples come from interviews with leaders at hearing care organizations and describe local decisions rather than a nationwide policy change.
Those examples include delegating suitable tasks, training front-office employees, drawing on student placements and using a mix of provider roles. Savin’s account of different options in California and New York shows why clinics must work within local rules. Gerhart’s description of hiring hearing instrument specialists in rural areas reflects the applicant pool and service scope of the practices he manages; it is not presented as a recommendation for all clinics.
“I have had extreme difficulty finding audiologists and hiring them.”
— Hunter Gerhart, director of audiology at Livingston Hearing Aid Centers
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Limits of the Reported Evidence
The supplied report material does not state the article’s publication date, quantify the number of affected practices or provide national data on audiologist vacancies, patient wait times or burnout. It also does not compare staffing strategies or report controlled results showing which approach improves efficiency or patient access.
Details on the training, supervision and permitted duties of assistants and other staff are not fully set out. The source notes that rules differ by state, but does not provide a state-by-state account. It is also unclear how many clinics have access to nearby audiology students or whether block scheduling has been adopted broadly.
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What Practices May Track Next
The report does not announce a formal rollout, deadline or next industry milestone. The approaches described are decisions individual practices can adapt to their staffing and regulatory circumstances. Practices considering them would need to define which tasks can be delegated, train staff, check applicable state requirements and decide how clinicians will supervise support work.
Useful indicators to watch would include appointment availability, patient wait times, the share of routine issues resolved without a clinician visit and staff workload. The source provides no baseline or follow-up figures for these measures, so it remains unknown whether the strategies described have produced consistent improvements. Continued recruitment and any future reporting with measurable results would help clarify how well clinics are meeting demand.
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Key Questions
Why are hearing care practices changing how work is assigned?
Clinic leaders interviewed by The Hearing Review described difficulty finding audiologists and pressure from busy schedules. They said practices are looking for ways to reserve clinicians’ time for work that requires their expertise.
What tasks might trained support staff handle?
The examples include basic hearing aid troubleshooting, Bluetooth pairing, cleaning instructions and patient education. What staff may do depends on their training, clinic oversight and applicable state rules.
Can every practice use audiology assistants?
No. The report says state rules can differ. Kira Savin said she employs audiology assistants in California but cannot use them in her New York offices.
How might audiology students help a clinic?
Savin said interns and externs can gain clinical experience while assisting with work such as walk-in needs and common problems. The report does not quantify how much capacity student placements add or how widely clinics use them.
Do these strategies have proven results?
The supplied report gives examples and comments from clinic leaders, but no comparative study or measured results showing how much the approaches change wait times, productivity or burnout.
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