Widex Remote Care

Many hearing clinics are now offering telehealth services for their clients. One manufacturer has really perfected this type of person-centred care with their teleaudiology technology.

Widex Remote Care is able to support you with your hearing aid fitting, from beginning to end without you needing to visit the hearing centre. While we are all facing the challenges that social distancing and isolation present, visiting any medical centre may make some people a little anxious. Commuting can also be difficult. Others may be time-poor and finding appropriate appointment times around a busy schedule can be difficult.

Widex Remote Care can address all these issues for not only the experienced hearing aid user, but also for first-time customers.

If you purchase a Widex hearing aid – and Widex Remote Care is available for any of its hearing aids with wireless connection – you can opt to be supported remotely by a completely synchronous service. You will be able to actively participate in the hearing aid fitting and rehabilitation program in the comfort of your own home or office.

How does it work?

If you wish to use this service, firstly your clinician will provide you with the remote link accessory. This is a loop you wear around your neck during the appointment. You will need to download the Widex Remote Care App on your Android or Apple Smartphone and then connect your phone to the remote link accessory via Bluetooth. This then allows your hearing aids to connect to the remote link. This gives you a triangular set up with your phone, remote link around your neck, and hearing aids.

Your audiologist can then connect to you through their computer program via your smartphone’s internet connection in the Widex Remote Care App. You’ll be able to chat just like you were using Skype or FaceTime.

While you’re connected, your audiologist can complete a number of tasks including feedback tests on your hearing aid, program adjustments and verification of your hearing aids’ capabilities in your ears. That is, they can check that your hearing aid is doing what it’s supposed to do, while it’s in your ears and more importantly, that you like the sound of your devices. If you don’t, adjustments can be made while you’re in your real-time environment – where you would normally be wearing your hearing aids.

Other benefits

The Remote Care application can also carry out a hearing test through your hearing aids. So, if you or your clinician were concerned your hearing levels had changed, they can be tested remotely.

For first hearing aid wearers, it is possible to be fitted with your hearing aids remotely. However, this can be a little daunting with so much to take in with your first set of hearing aids, it may be preferable for your initial fitting to take place at the hearing centre. Once you’ve been fitted, your audiologist can then set you up with the remote link accessory, pair it to your phone and get you ready for your follow-up appointment in your own environment.

Widex Remote Care has a feedback management tool, which is not a common feature in other remote care applications. If your hearing aids have feedback (whistling), this feature can allow the audiologist to solve this problem for you, remotely. And there’s also the verification check of your hearing aids. This doubles as a diagnostic test on your devices ensuring that all components of the hearing aids - microphones, receivers, and other internal processes - are functioning as they should.

This “real life, real time” approach to your hearing care service will assist in management and effective use of your hearing aids, in all your listening environments. Widex wanted to ensure all of their hearing aid users could avail themselves of this remote technology. Therefore, no matter which Widex device you have, (the only exception is the CIC micro aids - their small size doesn’t allow for wireless technology), you’ll be able to be part of the Widex Remote Care family of users.