Strong Voices in Florida Audiology
Summary
- UHealth audiologists played a large role in the recent Florida Academy of Audiology convention.
- UHealth and University of Miami Miller School of Medicine faculty and staff are strongly represented in FLAA leadership, with three faculty serving on the board.
- Dr. Victoria Ledon, FLAA’s vice president of education, diversified the convention’s traditional focus on adult clinical practice and hearing issues by addressing pediatric audiology issues.
From presentations to clinics to leadership, UHealth—University of Miami Health System audiologists continued to help shape the state-level conversation in audiology at the recent Florida Academy of Audiology (FLAA) convention.
The two-day convention featured six sessions from members of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Department of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery, including:
• Samantha Espinal, Au.D.
• Alexandria Mestres
• Anna Fowler, Au.D.
• Amy Metcalfe
UHealth and the Miller School are strongly represented in FLAA leadership, with three faculty serving on the board:
• Sergio Guerreiro, Au.D. assistant professor in the Miller School’s Division of Audiology and immediate past president
• Dr. Stern, assistant professor in the Miller School’s Division of Audiology and president-elect
• Victoria Ledon, Au.D. assistant professor in the Miller School’s Division of Audiology and vice president of education
“Our team at UM is a strong force, and I think people recognize how we serve as a great example of what a really big, diverse clinical institution can be,” said Dr. Ledon, the clinical manager of UHealth’s Hearing Aid Center. “Our large presence at our state convention helps not only UM, but also FLAA as an organization get on the radar of Florida audiologists and audiologic providers from all over the country and world.”
Expertise in Hearing Health Care for All Ages
As FLAA vice president of education, Dr. Ledon puts together the convention’s speaker lineup. This year, she aimed to diversify the convention’s traditional focus on adult clinical practice and hearing issues.
“There’s so much else within audiology,” Dr. Ledon said. “A lot of my colleagues provide audiologic care to kids, they manage patients with cochlear and acoustic implants, they diagnose vestibular disorders and so much more. I aimed to select sessions that would appeal to not only adult private practices, but also to providers from clinics like UM—large academic medical centers.”
Dr. Holcomb, a professor in the Miller School’s Division of Audiology and the director of the Hearing Implant Program, presented on current barriers to hearing health care and hearing technology for both pediatric and adult patients. Those topics have been cited by the World Health Organization as global health care issues.
“The concerning thing is that the numbers of people with significant hearing loss are going to rise exponentially over the next several decades, and we don’t have a system in place in the U.S. to manage these patients,” Dr. Holcomb said.
Financial limitations play a role, but it’s the patient referral system that proves to be the main problem.
“We as a hearing healthcare community are not doing a good job of diagnosing and treating hearing loss for patients in need,” she said. “So I wanted to provide some food for thought in the lecture: what can we do better? How can we make this pathway easier for patients?”
Dr. Sanchez, Au.D., associate professor in the Miller School’s Division of Audiology, and Dr. Steele presented a two-hour seminar on prevention and identification of medical errors within audiology, a continuing education requirement for license renewal in Florida.
The division’s Family Support Team presented on pediatric audiology, including a talk on multidisciplinary approaches to supporting children with unilateral hearing loss in school and a session on ways to expand access to pediatric audiologic care.
Advocating at the State Level for Florida Audiologists
FLAA serves an important role in representing audiological concerns to the Florida legislature, something Dr. Stern knows a thing or two about. Before returning to school for audiology, she worked in the Boston mayor’s office and in government and community relations at NYU.
As incoming president of FLAA, Dr. Stern uses her background and training in public policy and politics to advocate for legislation that affects Florida audiologists.
“Legislation at the state level actually affects practice more than federal legislation. Few audiologists realize that until they’re saying, ‘Wait, who let this legislation pass?’ And they weren’t involved in the process. But if they’d been in FLAA, they could have been,” Dr. Stern said.
As part of the Florida Coalition for Spoken Language Choices, FLAA was instrumental in creating the Children’s Hearing Aid Program (CHAP) in 2021, a $5 million recurring fund that provides hearing aid coverage for Florida children who don’t otherwise have coverage through Medicaid or private insurance.
“That was a huge legislative victory,” said Dr. Stern. “People love this plan.”
FLAA also recently successfully advocated for an interstate audiology licensure compact, going into effect this January, that will allow Florida audiologists to apply to practice in adjoining states without having to reapply for a new license.
As incoming FLAA president, Dr. Stern intends to continue the educational and legislative work of the organization.
“The main goal is to keep Florida audiologists informed about what’s going on in the state, especially things that could change their practice,” she said. “We’ll be continuing to educate our colleagues across the state on upcoming changes to practice, as well as providing a convention that gives people the opportunity to get meaningful, high-quality continuing education.”
Tags: audiology, Department of Otolaryngology, Division of Audiology, Dr. Anna Fowler, Dr. Chrisanda Sanchez, Dr. Hilary Steele, Dr. Jordan McNair, Dr. Meredith Holcomb, Dr. Samantha Espinal, Dr. Sergio Guerreiro, Dr. Tina Sterns, Dr. Victoria Ledon, Newsroom, otolaryngology