Services

Learn all about what Advanced Hearing Solutions can do for you.

Adult Hearing Assessments

Advanced Hearing Solutions specialises in the management and rehabilitation of hearing loss. If you are not eligible for hearing services under The Australian Government Hearing Services Program, you can have your hearing health assessed as a private patient. See the HSP, NDIS & DVA section to check your eligibility for the Hearing Services program.

What is involved in a hearing assessment?

There are many different reasons why you may have noticed a change in your hearing levels. We perform comprehensive hearing assessments which include:

  • Impedance testing: We will check how well your eardrums, the middle ear bones and your ears’ reflexes respond to changes in sound level and air pressure.
  • Pure tone assessment:  A series of beeps will be presented to you to determine your hearing levels.
  • Speech assessment: We check to see how well you understand and hear spoken words.

All tests are completed to give us a better idea of your hearing health and determine if a hearing rehabilitation plan is required to help improve your hearing.

What is a hearing rehabilitation plan?

We believe that better hearing can improve your quality of life! If your hearing test results suggest that you may benefit from a hearing rehabilitation plan, we can discuss or provide some of the below options:

  • Regular hearing checks to monitor changes
  • Training to improve listening and communication
  • Provide counselling and rehabilitation programs
  • Assist in selecting a hearing device
  • Fit the hearing devices
  • Provide ongoing care and device repair services.
Adult Hearing

HSP Pensioner, NDIS & DVA Hearing Assessments

Advanced Hearing Solutions is a fully registered and approved provider of The Hearing Services Program. This program is managed by the Hearing Services Program (HSP) and provides eligible Pensioners, Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) and National Disability Insurance Scheme participants with fully subsidised hearing assessments, services and hearing devices.

NDIS Eligibility

Australian citizen or permanent resident 26 years or older and you are:

  • A National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) participant with hearing needs, referred by a planner from the National Disability Insurance Agency
  • Referred by the Disability Employment Services (Disability Management Services) Program.

HSP Eligibility

Australian citizen or permanent resident 26 years or older and you are:

  • A Pensioner Concession Card holder.
  • Receiving Sickness Allowance from Centrelink
  • A dependent of a person in one of the above categories.

Please note a Seniors Health Card does not provide eligibility for the program.

DVA Eligibility

Australian citizen or permanent resident 21 years or older and you are:

How do I access hearing services?

If you think you may be eligible for the voucher component of the program, you can click here to check your eligibility.

If you meet the eligibility criteria you can apply by selecting Apply Now on the OHS website at www.hearingservices.gov.au.

If you prefer not to apply online, please visit us at the clinic and we will be happy to assist you with your application.

Paediatric Hearing Assessments

Advanced Hearing Solutions have specially-trained clinicians that are able to test your child’s hearing. If you have concerns regarding any of the following:

  • Your child’s speech and language development.
  • Your child’s recurring ear infections
  • Your child’s school expressing concerns regarding your child’s listening behavior.
  • A history of hereditary hearing loss in your family.

Your child may benefit from a formal hearing assessment.

What type of testing is performed in a paediatric hearing assessment?

1. A test of their hearing levels using either Play Audiometry or Pure Tone Audiometry

  • Pure Tone Audiometry (Age >5): A series of beeps and tones will be played to your child using headphones and they will be asked to press a button when they hear a sound.

2. A test of their middle ear health will be performed.

  • Eardrum Test: A small probe will be placed in to your child’s ear to check how the eardrum responds to a gentle puff of air.

3. A Speech assessment test will be performed and the difficulty will be determined based on your child’s age and developmental abilities: check to see how well your child understands and hears spoken words.

  • Speech Discrimination Test: This is performed to check how well you child understands and responds to spoken words.
Hearing Aid on Child

Work Cover & Employment Hearing Testing

Advanced Hearing Solutions is a registered Work Health & Safety Hearing Service Provider for SIRA, iCare, & WHS NSW. Our clinicians are fully qualified to assist you with your concerns with noise-induced hearing loss, industrial deafness claims, pre-employment testing and occupational noise management and monitoring.

Pre-employment or commercial hearing assessments

If you will be working in an environment where you are required to wear hearing protection or may be exposed to significant noise, your employer may require a pre-employment hearing assessment. They may request this to:

  • Get a baseline reading of your hearing levels for future monitoring purposes.
  • Ensure that your hearing levels meet specific workplace safety needs.
  • Determine the presence of a pre-existing hearing loss.

We are fully accredited to perform the following tests for commercial and employment purposes:

  • Industrial audiometric assessment
  • Commercial fitness to drive hearing assessment
  • Civil Aviation Safety Authority hearing assessment
  • Commercial diver hearing assessment
  • Police hearing assessment
  • Australian Defence Force Hearing Assessment

Hearing impairment injury arising from employment

Advanced Hearing Services is a fully qualified and approved Work Health & Safety Hearing Service Provider for SIRA, iCare and WHS New South Wales  If you are concerned about your hearing, and believe that your hearing levels may have changed as a result of your employment we can assist in evaluating your hearing levels and assist you with making a claim.

Work Cover

Pre- & Post-Operative Testing

Advanced Hearing Solutions is qualified to perform pre-cochlear implant assessments. They are also experienced in performing comprehensive hearing assessments that measure the changes in hearing levels that may occur during medical treatment.

In conjunction with Hearing Implants Australia we are able to fine tune most hearing implants at our Bathurst office.

Pre-Cochlear Implant Assessments

The audiological assessment includes the following tests:

  • Otoscopy: Visual examination of the eardrum and external part of the ear.
  • Unaided Pure Tone Assessment: A series of beeps will be presented to you to determine your hearing levels without your hearing aids.
  • Unaided Speech Assessment: We check to see how well you hear spoken words without your hearing aids.
  • Impedance Testing: We will check how well your eardrums, the middle ear bones and your ears’ reflexes respond to changes in sound level and air pressure.
  • Aided Speech Assessment: We check to see how well you hear words in a quiet listening situation and in noise whilst wearing optimally fitted hearing aids.

In addition to the above core audiological assessments, the Cochlear Implant Program will perform additional complex testing.

Medical Treatment & Ototoxicity

What is Ototoxicity? It is simply defined as poisoning to the ear that can result from exposure to certain drugs or chemicals. The effects of ototoxicity can be reversible and temporary, or permanent. As such, your doctor may want to monitor your hearing levels by obtaining a pre-treatment baseline measure, and repeat the hearing tests during the treatment and after the treatment has been completed.

Some ototoxic drugs are:

  • Antibiotics such as gentamicin
  • Loop Diuretics such as furosemide
  • Platinum-based chemotherapy agents such as cisplatin.

A number of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs have also been shown to have an ototoxic effect.

Testing

Hearing Aid Batteries and Repairs

Caution:- No hearing aid batteries are to be ingested, If a battery is swallowed seek further medical attention.

Hearing aid batteries usually last 10 to 14 days with regular use. How every if you have rechargeable hearing aids you will never need to change a battery again.

Batteries can be purchased over the phone or over the counter at our Bathurst Clinic.

Hearing & Rehabilitation Training for Carers

Advanced Hearing Solutions is available to provide comprehensive clinical training for nursing home staff, and offers student doctors training on hearing health. For more information please contact us.