Hearing Care Specialists St. Louis Park

What to expect at your first visit
The first step to improving your hearing is a comprehensive case history. Most importantly, this process helps establish a rapport between Dr. Kurt T. Pfaff and you. In addition, it gives Dr. Pfaff an insight into your health and hearing concerns.

Step two is a visual examination of your ear canal. This identifies the presence of excessive ear wax or physical anomalies of the ear canal and ear drum that can influence or cause hearing problems.

Step three is a complete hearing evaluation, which takes approximately 45 minutes to administer. Your hearing acuity and speech understanding abilities are measured and compared to normal data. These tests assess the mechanical and neural integrity of the auditory system, allowing us to identify the type and degree of your hearing loss and to relate those results to how they may affect your communication ability. You will be counseled regarding the findings, and them recommendations are made as how to best manage your hearing needs.

If you test results suggest the need for a medical consultation, a referral to your physician or an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist will be made. You will be given copies of your test findings and our recommendations to give to your doctor.

When hearing aids are indicated, we will counsel you on appropriate technologies, styles and instrument options that will best meet your individual hearing needs. All hearing aids are fit on a 60-Day trial basis to insure your satisfaction.

Hearing Aid Purchase Policy

Testing
MN State Law states that you must have a complete and valid (within the past 6 months) audiometric evaluation in order to purchase a hearing aid. A hearing screening is not a valid test.

When Hearing Care Specialists performs a complete audiometric evaluation, you will be charged $107.10. If all pertinent information is received, we will, as a courtesy to you, bill your insurance company for this procedure. Any co-pays are due at this time.

* In accordance with Medicare laws, we must bill ALL patients for an audiometric evaluation.

Ordering
If a hearing aid or aids are ordered, there is a $127.50 non-refundable fee. This fee covers our cost for impressions, our professional time and your fitting. This fee DOES NOT include the audiometric evaluation. This is a one-time fee and it is due at the time of order.

It takes approximately 2 weeks to get your hearing aid(s) from the factory. We will call you as soon as we get the aid(s) in to schedule your fitting appointment, this appointment will take approximately 1 hour.

Fitting
The total cost of the hearing aid(s), plus MN Care Tax, is due at the time of fitting. For your convenience, we accept personal checks, cashiers checks and money orders, Visa, MasterCard or Discover for payment. We offer a 5% discount for accounts paid in full by cash or check at the time of service.

Your 60-Day trial period begins on the day your new hearing aid(s) are fit. We will schedule you for a 2 week initial review appointment, so we can gauge how well your new hearing aid(s) are performing and to make any necessary adjustments. If you should need to come in before the 2 week appointment, please call. During the trial period, multiple appointments may be necessary to fine tune your hearing aid(s).

Hearing aid fitting is not an exact science. Your success largely depends on realistic expectations, and your relating to us how things sound so that we can make the appropriate adjustments. Everyone needs time to adjust to how they are now hearing with their new hearing aid(s), the trial period is meant to be utilized as an adjustment period.

Billing Policy
We understand the need to work with our patients regarding financial arrangements for the services we provide. We are participating providers for BCBS of Minnesota, Medica, Health Partners and Medicare. Sometimes a referral from your primary care physician is necessary, if that is the case, please arrange for the referral to be made prior to scheduling an appointment. It is your responsibility to know what your insurance policy considers covered services. If your insurance policy does not cover Audiological or hearing aid services, payment is expected at the time of service.

Medicare
We are participating providers for Medicare. However, Medicare does not reimburse for audiological services without a physicians referral. If you wish to have any of these services considered for reimbursement, please obtain a referral from your primary care physician before you schedule an appointment with us. Hearing aids and hearing aid related services are not covered by Medicare, even with a referral. We are happy to submit your claim to Meicare and your Medicare supplemental carrier if all conditions have been met.

Commerical Insurance
We also accept most commercial insurances (please check with your plan for any restrictions or limitations). If your insurance plan covers any of our services, as a courtesy to you, we will complete the necessary forms and submit them to your insurance company for reimbursement. If your policy has a deductible or co-pay, these amounts are due at the time of service.

Payment Methods
We accept personal checks, money orders, cash, Visa, MasterCard or Discover for all services that are provided to you. We offer a 5% discount for services paid by cash or check at the time of service.