[Implementation of the new quality assurance agreement for the fitting of hearing aids in daily practice. Part 1: New regulations pertaining to hearing aid fitting]

Abstract

Alongside evidence-based medicine, quality assurance has becoming increasingly important in daily medical practice during the last decade. The introduction of a specific quality assurance questionnaire in connection with hearing aid fitting represents the first large-scale assessment of certain elements of patient satisfaction within Germany's public healthcare system. Part 1 of this review describes the most important new regulations pertaining to hearing aid fitting in the context of statutory health insurance. Since the vast majority of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures constituting the treatment of hearing loss patients--particularly the subsequent rehabilitation of hearing aid wearers in cooperation with hearing aid acousticians--occur outside the clinic, this review concentrates on the rules relevant to this area. After studying this part of the overview, readers should be able to understand and apply the sections of the statutory health insurance reimbursement guidelines relating to ambulant hearing aid fitting; furthermore, they should be able to understand and apply the standard evaluation criteria (Einheitlicher Bewertungsmaßstab, EBM).