Cause a finish members were on here saying he/she started with this and I got the impression it was kind of common practice there.
I seem to recall reading something like that... I will have to look that up.
He runs a tinnitus-clinic far from where I live and is always unreachable. He is a strong believer in hearing aids with NG though.
An audiologist?
Hav´nt heard about the scandal, What was that about?
Well, there are a couple of things to cover. In Sweden, you can get state reimbursed hearing aids. In other words free hearing aids for people that need them. There are selected models and price ranges for these of course. These are usually the ones you get when you go to a hearing clinic at a state funded public hospital. But like with all areas of healthcare in Sweden, the latest development is that you can receive healthcare at a private clinic and not pay more than you normally do at a public hospital. These clinics are connected to the public healthcare system, so all the same rules and prices apply. In theory!
This may seem like a good thing, that you can have this kind of "choice". But it's really a forced choice, the way I see it. The public hospitals are understaffed, overbooked and overcrowded, so they find this type of "choice in healthcare" as a perfect excuse to push you off to a private establishment where you are supposed to get the same treatment anyway. In theory!
So instead of having your hearing checked at the hospital, you are referred to a private clinic. It's not too unlikely that you will end up at one of the Audika owned audiologist clinics. Audika is a French audiologist chain that consists of more than 800 clinics throughout Europe.
What's the problem? There is no conflict of interest and you can expect the highest standard for hearing exam if you do it at the hospital. Besides, in Sweden, audiologists don't do the "advanced" hearing tests like OAE and ABR. They will send you back to the hospital to deal with you if you need that sort of test.
If you do your hearing exam at a private clinic, you can only expect to get the standard audiometry. For me, that's hardly any surprise! All they care for is not your hearing, but selling you devices and gadgets. As it has been revealed just now, there is a big conflict of interest here. It has been uncovered that patients that have been referred to the private clinics have been sold the more expensive hearing aids. This would have been normal if it was America. But this is Sweden, where people can get hearing aids for free.
It turns out the audiologists downplayed the quality of the state provided hearing aids, seeing them as inferior. In some cases, they didn't even tell the patients that they can get the hearing aids for free if they go for the state approved models. Reason why? Because they would get a hefty bonus for selling the more expensive brand and model!
Choice in healthcare? What a joke! This is what happens when a state funded, public healthcare system is undermined by private conglomerates and business groups, and when you take in more immigrants than you can handle.
Don't trust audiologists!
Audiologists + Hearing aid makers = True
If you can, make sure you do all your tests at a hospital. Hopefully there will be no conflict of interest. I wish more than anything that there was a biological means of restoring hearing, so that we can rid ourselves of these clowns and their expensive gadgets.
Some relevant articles in Swedish:
https://hrf.se/hard-kritik-mot-horselcheckar-ny-utredning/
https://hrf.se/debatt-satsa-pa-riktig-valfrihet-horselskadade/
https://hrf.se/audionomer-far-bonus-varje-horapparat-de-saljer/
https://hrf.se/6657-2/
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