Consensus Statement on the Treatment with Implantable Bone Conducting Hearing Devices in Belgium

Abstract

To provide guiding principles to deliver high-quality treatment with implantable bone conducting hearing devices and to guarantee the best possible outcomes for each patient in Belgium. A consensus meeting was convened on March 26, 2019, including surgeons and audiologists from different bone conducting hearing devices hospitals and fitting centers in Belgium, and an independent moderator. First, different care models for treatment with bone conducting hearing devices, currently applied in Belgium, were identified and discussed. It was agreed that bone conducting hearing devices surgery and fitting should be provided by clinicians with adequate training and experience and that bone conducting hearing devices care should be centralized as much as possible. Preferably sound processor fitting is carried out within the bone conducting hearing devices hospital or at a specialized fitting center outside the hospital. In any case, a close interdisciplinary collaboration between both the bone conducting hearing devices surgeon and the bone conducting hearing devices audiologist was considered critical to ensure good patient outcomes (e.g., to facilitate appropriate treatment in the event of complications). Second, general guidelines were debated and agreed upon to improve the quality of care for the different phases of the patient journey (referral, assessment, treatment, and follow-up). Providing a standard of care means that every person, regardless of the type or degree of hearing loss, the region in which they reside and the healthcare professional they see, has access to a standardized assessment and treatment process, resulting in the most efficient hearing solution for his or her indication. This consensus statement was a first step towards a more standardized approach for treatments with bone conducting hearing devices in Belgium.