Signia's myHearing app instantly connects hearing aid patients and hearing care professionals

/EINPresswire.com/ -- PISCATAWAY, NJ--(Marketwired - October 20, 2016) -

• myHearing allows patients to ask questions, complete training, and more
• Professionals can monitor progress and remotely adjust hearing aids
• Signia is the first hearing aid brand to enter the growing telehealth field

Signia is helping to shape the future of hearing health care with myHearing™ -- the new app for iPhone® and Android™ devices that enables two-way communication between hearing aid wearers and hearing care professionals. With myHearing, Signia becomes the first hearing aid brand to use telehealth as a means to guide wearers through the first few weeks of adjusting to new hearing aids. The myHearing app works in conjunction with Signia's TeleCare™ portal, a cloud-based professional portal that exchanges information with the app via end-to-end encryption. The portal allows hearing care professionals to monitor patient progress, remotely adjust hearing aids, and ultimately deliver better patient care.

"Adapting to modern hearing aid technology requires retraining your brain to hear, learning new technology, and adjusting daily routines," said Scott Davis, CEO, Signia. "During those first few weeks, patients sometimes feel like they're on their own. The myHearing app and TeleCare portal ensure patients and hearing care professionals remain in contact so that questions and challenges can be readily addressed without waiting until the next follow-up appointment."

How the myHearing app works

Patients will typically download the myHearing app and connect to their professional's portal during the initial office visit. Once connected, several built-in app features encourage new wearers to adapt to their hearing aids. Patients can complete step-by-step listening modules, earn status badges, give feedback on various listening situations, and send daily satisfaction ratings. The app also contains frequently asked questions, a user guide, and various instructional videos. In addition, the myHearing app serves as a wireless remote control, allowing patients to adjust programs, volume, and even change the directionality of the hearing aids' microphones.

The myHearing app also helps patients stay engaged with and receive a new level of care from their hearing care professional. Wearers and professionals can communicate via text messaging in a format similar to Facebook Messenger, or initiate video calls via the app. But perhaps most impressive is the capacity for remote adjustments. Hearing care professionals now have the ability to send hearing aid adjustments via the TeleCare portal directly to the patient's myHearing app. Since the hearing aids and the app are wirelessly linked, the wearer can instantly try the proposed settings without having to personally visit the office.

"This technology helps bridge the critical time gap from when the patient first goes home with hearing aids to their first follow-up visit," added Davis. "This span is crucial because it often serves as the 'make or break' period when the patient is deciding whether to stick with hearing aids or whether to give up -- oftentimes for good."

Addressing a "blind spot" in the industry

Studies have consistently shown that professional counseling and guidance are critical for successful patient adoption and continued satisfaction with hearing aids. Signia's myHearing app serves as an important medium to help facilitate this process. The app makes it easier for patients to get the help they need while giving professionals the ability to provide a higher standard of care, even after the patient has left the office.

The myHearing app is available as a free download on Google Play™ or the App Store®. The Signia TeleCare portal is also available for free to any licensed hearing care professional who dispenses hearing instruments, and is optimized for Signia primax hearing aids. Both the app and portal work with any hearing aid brand and are being showcased at the 61st International Hearing Care Professional Convention (EUHA) in Hannover, Germany.

Click to Tweet: http://ctt.ec/8PMa6.

More information about the myHearing app can be found at www.signiaUSA.com/myHearing.

To learn more about Signia, visit http://signiaUSA.com.

For more press images, visit https://www.sivantos.com/en/press/media/category-2/.

About the Sivantos Group

The business operations of the former Siemens AG hearing aid division have been incorporated into the Sivantos Group since early 2015. Sivantos can look back proudly on more than 130 years of German engineering and countless global innovations. Today Sivantos is one of the leading hearing aid manufacturers worldwide. Thus the former Siemens hearing aid division, with more than 5,000 employees, achieved revenues of 835 million euros in the fiscal year 2014/15 and a reported EBITA (with normalization) of 206 million euros. Sivantos' global distribution supplies hearing aid specialists and sales partners in more than 120 countries. Particularly high value is placed on product development. To this end, Sivantos aims to develop into the world's leading company in the coming years with its brands Signia, Siemens, Audio Service, Rexton, A&M, HearUSA and audibene. The owners of Sivantos are the anchor investors EQT along with the Strüngmann family as a co-investor. Sivantos GmbH is a brand license holder of Siemens AG.

Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/10/19/11G118767/Images/Patients_complete_step-by-step_modules,_send_daily-40b60d180fad98ad82cee9b0bf9400a7.jpg
Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/10/19/11G118767/Images/Signia_s_myHearing_app_enables_professional_care_a-884ca4798300b367901bad9ad28856a4.jpg
Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/10/19/11G118767/Images/The_app_faciltates_various_methods_of_communicatio-1ceab49a72e18040b9dbd97098257eee.jpg
Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/10/19/11G118767/Images/myHearing_is_a_free_download_on_the_App_Store_or_G-2144a25b82ae92beba087aed8598be1e.jpg