Adapting to Industry Changes
Member Spotlight | Enhance Audiology
The hearing healthcare industry has seen it’s fair share of changes over the past few years. Challenges like staffing trends or OTC hearing aids can feel overwhelming, but as we learned in this month’s member spotlight, these challenges can lead to opportunity. Rose Keshishyan, Au.D., and owner of Enhance Audiology, explained to us how she uses major changes to drive her practice forward.
“I always look for new ways of doing things, talk to others or just find out how to improve. That’s usually my approach. When changes come up, it always brings something good.”
Q&A with Rose Keshishyan, Au.D., owner of Enhance Audiology
1How do you adapt your practice to handle industry changes?
Change in the industry is inevitable and any change is a challenge. Challenges change our mindset so we don’t remain stagnant and continue to do things the same way. I like to always innovate things. Regardless of the changes, I always look for new ways of doing things by talking to others and finding out how to improve. That’s usually my approach. When changes come up, it always brings something good. Something good comes out of it as we make our processes more efficient.
2What has been a tough change for you and your practice and how did you navigate it?
As we are growing right now, I find that adding more people always changes the dynamics of the practice. We need to make sure that everyone is on the same page and they understand why we do things the way we do. This has been something new for me that I needed to learn how to manage. Instead of having one or two employees, now we have five to six employees and we’re still growing.
3How do you motivate your staff to support the changes you make?
I like to be an example. That’s how I like to motivate. This year we were also talking about some incentives. As the group is growing, I’m thinking about doing more activities with them and having a certain plan to incentivize them. Most of all, it’s very important for me to know that, without any activities or financial incentives, the ideology is exciting for them and they’re on the same page with the way they think about what we do and why we do it. I want people to believe in our mission and I lead them by example.
4How does your relationship with CQ Partners help you navigate industry changes?
It’s good to know that there are other people helping to take care of things as they come up. Besides that, I like to be part of a group where I can see how others are handling situations. There are bigger practices handling similar challenges. Our relationship with CQ Partners helps me see the bigger picture and what’s going on in other areas. A lot of times I won’t have the time to network with other offices, or other professionals, but being part of CQ, I know that they will point me in the right direction and plan accordingly.
5How have you adapted in response to the FDA’s decision on OTC hearing aids?
I think that the over the counter hearing aid decision will raise more awareness and more people will find more information about hearing loss and hearing aids. People will be more open to taking that first step towards improving their hearing. It made me think how we can improve what we do like adding more services to add more personalized, individualized care so people feel really well taken care of in our office. So, it made me add more to what we already do and raise ourselves to that next level of service to be chosen over OTC. I think it’s actually a good thing. It just raises more awareness and people are more willing to address the issue that they were putting off for a long time. We can improve our presence so once people are ready, they can find us.
6What advice would you give to practices trying to adjust to industry changes?
Don’t get discouraged. Change is inevitable, and we learn through time that if it’s not one thing, then it could be something else. As a practice, we need to be ready and have that mindset that things will be okay. We can get through any change and maybe hopefully come out better than we were. So don’t get discouraged. Don’t give up. Just keep going, keep doing what you do well and look for better ways. Continue thriving.