As suggested by last week’s guest blog post by Geoffrey Cooling, considering new avenues for ancillary revenue is part of every successful clinic’s blueprint. Identifying potential sources of additional revenue not only offers the business a means of generating additional sales, but provides your patients the convenience of access to key necessities associated with their hearing health care needs from one source. Here are a few things dispensing audiologists should make available for patient purchase beyond the hearing instruments:
Hearing aid batteries: depending on the number of batteries per card, one carton of hearing aid batteries can typically provide a binaural hearing instrument wearer anywhere from a 6 to 12 month supply. Coordinating semi- and/or annual follow-ups with hearing aid battery replenishment needs is not only a great way to encourage patient follow-up, but also reinforces the audiologist’s role as the primary source of hearing loss management. Battery-cards can be custom-labeled with the name and phone number of your practice. Also, battery testers, caddies, and battery removal tools are popular accessories appearing to hearing instrument users.- Hearing instrument cleaners and cleaning tools: teach your hearing aid patients to treat their hearing instruments like dentures! Like dentures, hearing instruments are designed to
reside in a body orifice and should be properly cleaned prior to insertion in the ear canal and immediately after removal with available cleaning sprays such as Audiologist’s Choice. Providing access to additional storage pouches, brushes, vent cleaning tools, and the like is equally important to send the message that these devices must be cleaned on a daily basis. - Dri-aid kits, dehumidifiers, and other forms of moisture protection: once properly cleaned, hearing aids should be placed in a Dri-aid kit or dehumidifier over night, particularly for those users exposed to more humid climates, to minimize unwanted repairs resulting from moisture accumulation. Additionally, offering moisture protection for patients to use
while wearing their hearing instruments in the form of Ear Gear, Hearing Aid Sweatbands, or the Deflector represent appealing accessories that patients may realize exists unless displayed or offered by the audiologist. - Lubricants & Anti-itch cream: hearing instrument wearers
often need access to products that help with instrument or earmold insertion and/or alleviate itchy ears. Offering Ear Gel or Miracell, as well as Audiologist’s Choice Anti Itch Cream in your clinic will provide an immediate solution for patients to address these specific needs. 
Hearing Assistance Technology (HAT): whether as an initial communication solution for someone in denial of their hearing loss or as a supplement to those hearing instrument wearers motivated to optimize communication, provide patients with access to information and the ability to invest in various forms of HAT. This can be achieved by using the Simply the Best brochure which is designed to generate awareness about HATs without requiring the clinic to invest in a lot of time, money, or inventory.
These are just a few simple suggestions as to what you want to sure you offer your patients at your clinic. There are many products available as resale accessories and providing patients access to such products not only makes good business sense, but will make your patients happy!
Excellent ancillary revenue products for maximising revenue. The offering of these ancillary products also establishes a Practice as a full line service provider.