Blaise Delfino:
You are tuned in to the Hearing Matters Podcast, the show that discusses hearing technology, best practices, and a growing national epidemic, hearing loss. Before we kick this episode off, a special thank you to our partners, Weave, the all-in-one patient communication and engagement platform. Redux, faster, dryer, smarter, verified. Fader Plugs, the world's first custom adjustable earplug.
Welcome back to another Hearing Matters Podcast episode. I'm your host, Blaise Delfino, and joining me today is Meghan Okken. Now, the funny thing about Meghan Okken is that I have actually known her family since I was 13 years young. Her brothers and I played baseball together, and years later, Meghan called us at Audiology Services looking for audiology observation hours. And what was an ask for observation hours turned into a full-time position as a hearing instrument specialist years later following graduation. We're going to bring her on the show right now. Meghan, welcome to the Hearing Matters Podcast.
Meghan Okken:
Hello. It's so nice to be back. Hello, hello.
Blaise Delfino:
It is awesome to see you. You have just been crushing it, helping so many patients hear life story and we are so proud of you.
Meghan Okken:
Thank you. Thank you. Yes, it's been a crazy couple of months, eight months or so now, whole time.
Blaise Delfino:
Meghan, time flies-
Meghan Okken:
It's been a journey.
Blaise Delfino:
... when you're having fun and removing cerumen, does it not?
Meghan Okken:
Yes, exactly. Couldn't have said it better myself.
Blaise Delfino:
So, Meghan, I'll never forget, and we talked about this in a previous podcast episode, I will never forget the call that Autumn and I received and you were asking for observation hours. We got you into Audiology Services, you got the observation hours, and then a couple of months later we emailed you and we offered you a summer internship, which I'm speaking for you, but it was an awesome experience.
Meghan Okken:
It was.
Blaise Delfino:
Now, you have been working full-time at Audiology Services located in Nazareth and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania for almost nine months. Almost nine months. I cannot believe how time has flown and what started as one summer internship turned into a second summer internship, turned into then a full-time position. Curious to know what has been your most challenging experience to date being nine months at Audiology Services.
Meghan Okken:
Yeah, absolutely. There's been a few, that's for sure. But I think honestly the most challenging part was probably starting two days full-time, two days after graduation. I was just thrown into the mix, which was great, and I still had a lot to learn and I still do, but it's a very difficult, and I think any provider knows in any healthcare field that it's very difficult to gain the trust of your patients. So coming in as a new provider at Audiology Services was game changing for a lot of the patients.
It took a lot of time to start to gain their trust, but after a while, it ended up just being, "It's Meghan here and I'm here to help you." I've built great rapport with a lot of the patients. Now, my wrote most rewarding experience on the other end of that I would say is probably I... Actually this was recent. So I had a patient who had been to multiple X amount of different providers around the area and had some negative experiences with them.
He came in and he was kind of helpless at this point and he thought he was never going to hear again. We were able to retrofit his hearing instruments that he had and program them to his newest audiometric data. Dr. Delfino had conducted a hearing test on him and he started instantly crying. And I started crying. I usually don't get very emotional, but it was the most surreal experience. He had told me that he never thought he was going to hear again. He said, "I believe that God put you in my life in this field for a reason." And whether you're religious or not, for someone to believe that is very heartwarming, to say the least. So that was a very special moment for me.
Blaise Delfino:
Absolutely, because Meghan, what you're doing is providing the gift of hearing. How good did that feel when you got home that day and you impact lives. You and fellow hearing healthcare professionals impact the lives of individuals that present with hearing loss on a daily basis. But it's an instant like that and a situation like that where the patient gets very emotional because it's such an emotional appointment. It really is.
Meghan Okken:
Yeah, absolutely.
Blaise Delfino:
And for our listeners tuned in, a retrofit essentially is if a patient comes to Audiology Services, Meghan, and they're currently wearing hearing aids. And if the hearing aids are within three to five years you'll retrofit them.
Meghan Okken:
And bring them in as a patient now, as Audiology Services patient.
Blaise Delfino:
Right. You've done reprogramming. Whole kit and caboodle, cleaning the hearing aids, all that stuff. Meghan, it reminds me, so bringing that story to light, that is a way in which you really humanize yourself with patients because at the end of the day, we're all human and some of us don't like to be vulnerable. If you think about it this way, a lot of the patients when they visit the office and they visit a hearing healthcare professional, they are vulnerable.
I believe one of the reasons you've been so successful at Audiology Services is because you practice empathy, number one, and you truly listen to understand what the patient is saying. So Meghan, over the summer, you had the opportunity to visit Starkey's campus and you actually had the opportunity to meet the man, the myth, the legend, Mr. Bill Austin.
Meghan Okken:
Yes, I did. That was one of the best experiences of my life. I had so much fun there. I did get to meet Mr. Bill Austin. I shook his hand and no one else was shaking his hand. I don't know if I was supposed to. So, Mr. Austin, if you're watching this, I hope I didn't offend you or anything, but I did go ahead and shake his hand. [inaudible 00:07:07]
Blaise Delfino:
You felt the hearing healthcare energy, did you not?
Meghan Okken:
I did. I did.
Blaise Delfino:
So being on Starkey's campus, it's surreal, right?
Meghan Okken:
Yeah.
Blaise Delfino:
So share with us what your experience was like and what were some of your takeaways and what was the culture like at Starkey?
Meghan Okken:
It was so exciting for me to be in an environment where there are others that have the same passion as I do, that work in the same field as I do, because oftentimes... I mean, I don't have a lot of friends that are in the field, so it's very refreshing to be around people that know what you're talking about and you can bounce back and forth ideas with, or even just talk about hearing aids, patient experiences, whatever it is.
So that was really cool. I mean, they really roll out the red carpet for you. It was so awesome being there. It's so exciting as a provider to see all of the effort and time that they put into educating the providers. So it's really cool and being able to learn firsthand from them themselves about the software, the hearing technology, learning, all of the different components that go into making such a small hearing aid down to the ear molds and the artificial intelligence.
It's insane. We got a tour of the ear mold mob, which was so cool. And it's really cool to even relate that with my patients now and say, I actually got to see how these are built and made and I can verify that they are very strong. They're not going to go anywhere. You're not going to break them. So it's pretty cool and I can relate that to my patients now that I see every day.
Blaise Delfino:
To dovetail off everything you just said there, Meghan, what I think the coolest thing was is when you came back to Audiology Services following your trip to Starkey, you were energized. You were excited. Implementing an offsite event and actually getting out of the office and meeting with other professionals, you absolutely come back to your office feeling fulfilled, feeling excited because that is so important to get out of the office and connect with like-minded individuals who are also helping other patients hear better and live better. And yes, the Starkey headquarters is absolutely amazing, and just the culture there.
When you are on campus and you're there, everyone at Starkey really cares about what they do. They care about the patient. They really truly care about the customer because to train hearing care providers on best practices, why it's so important to conduct X, Y, and Z test and the importance of taking a really good ear mold, it all happens there.
I know you met some friends at the event. How nice is that, Meghan? I know you touched on a little bit about the importance in connecting with fellow hearing care professionals, but tell us about your experience actually connecting with fellow hearing healthcare professionals and what you liked most about that.
Meghan Okken:
It's just cool to, I think, be able to bounce ideas back and forth. I mean, there is times when we were just sitting at lunch and someone would say, "Hey, has anyone ever tried the Redux system?" And I was able to say, "Yeah, we use it every day." Every patient that comes in, we Redux their hearing aids because it saves so many repairs from going out.
I was able to give them the number to give them a call. And so it's really cool to just kind of talk back and forth and see where other people stand on some ideas and maybe they might recommend something that you want to start doing in your office. So it's really cool. I actually met one lady there and we kept riding the shuttle bus together, and she was an audiologist, I think in Arizona. We still text back and forth happy holidays and whatnot. But I had told her about the podcast and she thought it was the coolest thing ever because she was asking me, I think it's so cool that all of these people are talking here. We have Dr. Ochinbomek and all of these people talking. I can't quite remember what their names are, what they did. And I was like, "Oh, I have a really great resource for you. Here's the podcast." So it was really cool to kind of connect and be able to talk to all of them.
Blaise Delfino:
That goes to why we do what we do, Meghan, right? So I don't think our listeners tuned in right now may know is that we started the podcast in 2019, and that was the summer I believe that you first interned at Audiology Services. Am I correct in saying that?
Meghan Okken:
Yeah.
Blaise Delfino:
Yeah. Because then so you had that summer experience and then COVID summer experience.
Meghan Okken:
Right.
Blaise Delfino:
That's right. We've been doing this for almost four years. Can you believe that? Four years.
Meghan Okken:
Yeah. It's crazy.
Blaise Delfino:
But to your point, that's why we do what we do. That's why we host these episodes on a weekly basis now because we want to get the good news of hearing healthcare out there and connect fellow hearing healthcare professionals, number one with each other, provide patients a platform that they can go to listen in the comfort of their home and help them make an educated decision regarding their hearing healthcare.
In October, Meghan, you actually recently took your Pennsylvania hearing instrument specialist exam. It's a very difficult test. So what would be some study advice and recommendations for other individuals who are interested in obtaining their hearing instrument specialist license?
Meghan Okken:
Yeah, I would say number one, the biggest thing is always going to be you need a sponsor in order to apprentice in order to get your license. Right? So get a good sponsor. Really do your research, make sure that they are using best practices. Make sure that they are people that you want to learn from, because if you are doing it every day and your [inaudible 00:13:03] and you're working with the patients every day and really learning, then you'll be fine for the exam.
You should know what you're doing at that point if you're learning from people who are using best practices, so on and so forth. So that would be the number one thing. But also, I mean, it is a hard exam, but don't psych yourself out either. Again, if you know the material, you should know the anatomy of the ear. If you do it every day, you're going to know what you need to know for the exam.
Blaise Delfino:
So Meghan, speaking of getting your hearing instrument specialist license, some individuals may think to themselves, well, there's these things called over-the-counter hearing aids coming out, and will the hearing care provider even play an essential role in the equation of hearing healthcare? And the answer is yes, because hearing healthcare is absolutely best served in the hands of a licensed hearing healthcare professional like Meghan, like myself, and like the thousands and tens of thousands of other audiologists and hearing care providers out there.
Tell us about the experience you've had working with patients after the OTC legislation was released. What are some of the types of questions you've been receiving? Do prospective patients seem to be interested in OTC devices? Share with us what you've experienced after the OTC legislation was released.
Meghan Okken:
Yeah, I think at first it started almost like a little bit of a panic, and a lot of patients were coming in asking about it or inquiring about it, but it was more of like a, "Well, what are you guys going to do?" But we're so good at educating our patients and that's one of the biggest things that we do at Audiology Services. I mean, Cheryl, Dr. Delfino and I, that's the number one thing that we want to do. If you are coming in, the least we can do, is educate you on your hearing loss and what some options are for you.
We're very lucky that a lot of our patients are more so saying, "Hey, I don't know how you could do that." Or they are advocating for prescriptive hearing instruments. But it hasn't really been to the point where anyone is looking forward to buying them. But it's been really interesting to just see how everyone's asking about it or reacting to it. Some negative, some are positive, but it's very interesting. And then I can kind of go in and talk about my Listen Carefully ambassador program that I am recently a part of. I know we'll touch on that a little bit further down.
Blaise Delfino:
Let's get into it. So before we talk about your experience so far as a Listen Carefully ambassador, we believe Hearing Matters podcast believes in affordability and accessibility, but patient safety and satisfaction needs to be at the forefront. It absolutely has to. We were excited to see that the FDA addressed maximum output, things of that nature in the final regulations. But at the end of the day, I think that the attention that hearing healthcare actually received as a result of the OTC legislation was incredible because now there is greater awareness of the importance of hearing healthcare, why you should visit your local hearing healthcare provider, get your annual hearing test.
A lot of good things came out of the OTC legislation. And of course, one of those, quote, unquote, "good things", I'll call this a great thing, is the Listen Carefully ambassador program. Share with us what your experience has been like with this program and what you're looking forward to the most about being a Listen Carefully ambassador in the state of Pennsylvania, Meghan.
Meghan Okken:
Yeah. So basically Listen Carefully is a program to educate lawmakers and officials on prescriptive hearing devices and why it's important to visit a hearing healthcare professional as well as insurance coverage and all of those kind of factors that play into someone going forward with hearing technology. So they had asked me to be a part of this program or to be an ambassadors. I was chosen to be one of them and we've had a few meetings so far and it's been really cool and a really great experience to just see like-minded hearing healthcare professionals come together and really fight for something and be so passionate about something, right?
Blaise Delfino:
And be advocates not only for the industry but for the patients as well. Because every day you walk in that office, you're fighting for your patients, and it can take one bill. One bill can be passed and things can change. So excited for your continued partnership and participation as a Listen Carefully ambassador Meghan, because you're so passionate about hearing healthcare, number one. But number two, you lead with the heart. You lead with empathy. And patients see that. That's why you've been able to help so many patients hear better, live better, hear life story. It's been awesome to see your growth and super excited for your continued success as a hearing healthcare provider. You're going to continue to make waves in this industry. And I get to say, "I knew Meghan Okken when..."
Meghan Okken:
Thank you.
Blaise Delfino:
That's what I'm looking forward to, Meghan, because it's been really cool to see your growth in how many patients you have impacted and impact on a daily basis.
Meghan Okken:
Thank you. Thank you. I get it all from you.
Blaise Delfino:
Well, you know what, it's all about mentorship, and it's important to pay it forward. I had a mentor who said, "Blaise, all I'm asking you to do is pay it forward." And that's what I'm going to ask you to do, Meghan, pay it forward in life.
Meghan Okken:
Yeah, I'm very lucky.
Blaise Delfino:
Because the more you give, that's the key to success. And you're giving the gift of hearing every single day. Being that we are, my gosh, it's almost March. I can't believe that. This year already, quarter one is almost done. What are you looking forward to in 2023 as far as new hearing aid technology goes. Are you ready for any new launches? Are you going to be attending any webinars? What are you most excited about? What are you looking forward to? Because there's always something going on in the hearing healthcare industry.
Meghan Okken:
There is. Honestly, it's hard to even keep a track of, but I'm just excited to see the growth that comes with 2023. I think every year it seems that there is something new and greater coming out as far as hearing technology. I'm just really excited to see what else they could possibly come out with or what they can smooth out with the newer technology coming out.
A lot of patients are very excited about it. They're constantly asking me, "What's new? What's coming out? What are the manufacturers saying? Or what are they coming out with now?" So it's very interesting and I'm very excited to be able to relay that to them.
Blaise Delfino:
What I think is so cool, Meghan, is when you talk about hearing technology and your sister is going to school right now, Elisa to become a dentist, and I always remember you saying you would be at home having dinner with the family, and you'd be talking about hearing aids and hearing healthcare and just so passionate about what the device does. Because the hearing aids, what they're able to do today is incredible. For lack of a better term.
I mean, we're talking about artificial intelligence in something so tiny and it's helping someone's brain. That is so cool. I love the passion that you have whenever you talk about hearing technology and patients appreciate that. We have a lot of providers tuned in right now. If you weren't passionate about hearing healthcare, your patients would feel that and they would see that.
But they come to you and they come to Audiology Services because they want that family feel. They want to be heard. They know that you're listening to them. You're listening twice and have continued to listen twice as much as you speak. You're understanding what the communicative needs are that the patient does need to live a fulfilled life.
Meghan Okken:
Yeah, absolutely. You're right. It starts from the beginning. From the time that they call the office to Cheryl or Mary Sue answering the phone to the time that they come in, welcoming them at the front desk when they do the hearing test, and then eventually they make their way on back to me, right? So I'm at the end of that line there, but it's so exciting to just see them go through that process and they really appreciate that too. We try our best to make them happy and keep them comfortable, but it's really great. It's a great experience for them at Audiology Services.
Blaise Delfino:
And that is so important because hearing healthcare is such a gray area, Meghan. It really is. I can't say this enough. From the start, you were passionate about hearing healthcare. The first summer that you interned at Audiology Services, you started at the front office. And there was strategy behind that because you need to understand what's going on at the front desk.
Those calls, the phone calls, the first phone call, when that patient picks up and they're scheduling their hearing test, that patient statistically has most likely waited seven to 10 years to address their hearing loss.
Now you need to be on and that family feel that is at Audiology Services is again, so special, so important not only for the team, but also for the patient. So kudos to you and the rest of the team there. It's been really cool to see your growth, to see what patients are saying, how excited they are about their new hearing technology and their new hearing world.
So overall, Meghan, working with patients hands-on for almost nine months, what are your top three to five lessons learned? You and I would always talk about what was your peak of the day, what was the valley of the day? But you always have to walk away on an annual basis of what were some of my lessons learned? So curious to know what some of your lessons learned have been these past nine months.
Meghan Okken:
I think the biggest one and one that I'm still learning is to listen to the patients. We have two years, one mouth, listen twice as much as you speak. Right? And I think it's so important because you really get to build the picture of what's going on in their life, and really you can make that recommendation then for them to fit their lifestyle, to fit their needs. So it's very important to listen to the patients and you can learn a lot from them.
I think as providers, a lot of times we think we know what's best, and we do a lot of times, and oftentimes, but you also have to listen to the patients and understand where they're coming from and what they need to hear because at the end of the day, you're not the one hearing the hearing instruments. So that's always going to be the biggest one.
I think also taking time to just breathe, which is something, because in my situation, I started two days after graduating, so it was just one thing after the other, and it was just very fast-paced. A lot going on at a lot of times. So just taking time to breathe and relax and just taking it patient by patient. That is always going to be something that, again, I'm still practicing, but is one of my biggest lessons learned for sure.
I think also just making sure that the patient leaves feeling like they had to learn something. Not every patient is going to be ready to move forward with hearing technology or needs hearing technology, but the most that you can do, or the least that you can do, is educate that patient on what is out there or what the options are for them. So I think that's really important as well.
Blaise Delfino:
I like the educational aspect there, Meghan, because we don't sell hearing aids. We assist patients in making an educated decision regarding their hearing healthcare. And when the patient leaves feeling more confident about themselves, "What are some of the communication strategies that Meghan reviewed with me? Are hearing aids the best treatment option?" Typically they are when patients come to the clinic, but there might be some patients who have normal hearing, but they just need some communication strategies to understand speech better in a noisy or complex listening situation like a meeting or a restaurant.
So I love those lessons learned there. And especially number two, breathe. You started working full-time after you graduated, and the last year and a half to two years of college were very difficult because you had COVID. What I mean is COVID hit in 2020 and you graduated in 2020...
Meghan Okken:
Two.
Blaise Delfino:
Two. So life was very different from when you first started at Audiology Services
Meghan Okken:
Yes, yes.
Blaise Delfino:
What do you think got you through the transition?
Meghan Okken:
I think honestly, having the support that I did from you guys, the whole team at Audiology services, I mean, it was... I'm very hard on myself, and you guys are very much uplifting and recognize that and are able to say, "Hey, you're doing great. What did you do wrong? What could you do better next time?" Okay. You learned from it and now you can move on and do that with the next patient? So it's just been really great to have the support that I did and you guys made the transition as easy as it possibly could be and letting the patients know and introducing me ahead of time, and that's what really helped.
Also, was interning for three years because I did get to meet some of the patients and they don't always remember me. They remember me as the blonde girl that was sitting in the corner. Still, just having that recognization that you were there, you've seen them before and that feels like it was so long ago. And it was so long ago. So I think that helped a lot as well.
Blaise Delfino:
Yeah. Super excited for your success and continuing to help so many patients, Meghan. I admire the vulnerability there because transitioning after you graduated to working full-time, we have a lot of students that tune into the Hearing Matters podcast as well. Anything you need, send us a DM, the transition. We're here to help you. Because we've lived it as well and making the decision of maybe going for speech pathology or audiology, or becoming a hearing instrument specialist. There's more individuals that present with hearing loss than there are hearing care providers. So it's so important for us to get the good message of hearing healthcare out there because I think that there's a lot of talented individuals out there that could be awesome hearing care providers, and if we can maybe spark that interest, that would be awesome.
Meghan, I'm really looking forward to the future of Hearing Matters Podcast, because we're going to do more of these lives. You're going to be coming on the show at least once a month. You're going to be co-hosting. We're actually celebrating World's Hearing Day on March 3rd. I got to ask you, this is a big event, and we're using a streaming platform right now. We're actually testing it out, so we don't mess it up on World's Hearing Day with, I think we have 10 guests. So I think we have this system down.
World's Hearing Day, big Day. It's World's Hearing Day for us every single day. What are you most excited about when it comes to World's Hearing Day this year?
Meghan Okken:
I think, of course, our biggest thing is always going to be advocating or advocation, and I think getting together with the guests, which I don't think have been released yet, so I won't say anything, but getting together with everyone.
Blaise Delfino:
The guests have not been released yet, but there's a lot of thought leaders coming on the show, which is awesome.
Meghan Okken:
So I think getting together and, again, all like-minded individuals that are passionate about hearing healthcare, getting together and being able to spread the word on our different platforms. So I'm really excited. I think it'll be a lot of fun and everyone should tune in.
Blaise Delfino:
Everyone should tune in. That is Friday, March 3rd. We're going to be starting at 4:00 PM Mountain Standard time, 6:00 PM Eastern Standard Time. And you'll be able to ask questions as the live is happening. Autumn is going to be joining us as well. Super excited for that. Thank you so much for coming back on the show, Meghan. Any questions that anyone has, feel free. Check us out on Instagram. The handle is in the lower right hand corner of this video.
Meghan Okken:
Yes, it is.
Blaise Delfino:
And our Twitter handle. I had to do hearing mattas because hearing matters was already taken.
Meghan Okken:
I didn't even realize. That's so funny.
Blaise Delfino:
Yeah, on Twitter. So that's pretty funny. We're going to be more active on Twitter. I didn't really know what was going on with Twitter, Meghan, for the past couple weeks, but we're going to do a [inaudible 00:30:19]
Meghan Okken:
That's okay. We're end.
Blaise Delfino:
We're going on Twitter. As we close out this episode, do you have any final remarks that you want to share maybe to some of our providers and/or hearing aid users, because some of your patients might be tuned in right now?
Meghan Okken:
Yeah. I think, of course, it's so important to get your hearing checked annually. I know we say that over and over again, but come in, get your hearing checked. Whether you are listening or you are one of our patients, that's the first step. But if you have any questions, reach out to someone, ask the questions. We are here to help you. Providers are here to help you. DM us on Instagram, give us a call, whatever you need to do to get your questions answered. Everyone is happy to help you. So don't be afraid to take that first step.
Blaise Delfino:
And we are here to help you because taking that first step is often the scariest. And what we hear almost every single time is, "I wish I did this sooner."
Meghan Okken:
Yeah.
Blaise Delfino:
Meghan, thank you so much for joining us on the Hearing Matters Podcast.
Meghan Okken:
Thank you for having me.
Blaise Delfino:
Give our best to the family. And we're going to see you in a couple of weeks for World's Hearing Day.
Meghan Okken:
I look forward to it. We'll see you on World Hearing Day.
Blaise Delfino:
You're tuned in to the Hearing Matters Podcast, the show that discusses hearing technology, best practices, and a growing national epidemic, hearing loss. Today, we had Meghan Okken, hearing care provider at Audiology Services located in Nazareth and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. And until next time, hear life story.