People want appointments to be as effortless as possible to fit smoothly into their daily schedule. The idea of having a tool that would foster a close and convenient relationship with clients, shorten the trial period, and increase the conversion into sales motivated Comunicare, Signia exclusive resellers in Brazil, to adopt the Signia TeleCare remote hearing care solution. It has proven a valuable resource for Comunicare’s 130 audiologists and partners in 41 locations across Brazil since its introduction in 2017.

Faster and more effective sales

Comunicare audiologist Graciele Brito Escobar describes TeleCare as an innovative and revolutionary tool. “It has improved our work because it enables communication between the professional and the patient,” she explains. “We can solve issues immediately and make faster and more effective sales. TeleCare is now the biggest difference between us and other companies. Some customers end up choosing our products because TeleCare enables me to provide assistance wherever my patient is. I cannot imagine working without it. The tool is awesome and streamlines our work.”

In order to prove just what a difference TeleCare can make for a hearing aid business, Signia conducted a study involving 88 HCPs and more than 5,600 first time users at Comunicare over the course of 16 months. The study revealed not only the benefit of TeleCare in creating higher hearing aid adoption rates with patients but also high user satisfaction ratings in all the most relevant hearing situations.

The solution has considerably reduced the rate of returns, leaving more opportunity to schedule new patients and consequently for new sales. The study found that in the last four months of 2017, the hearing aid purchase rate was 9% higher when TeleCare was implemented, and in 2018 this increased to a 12% advantage. Furthermore, 3 out of 4 HCPS strongly agreed that TeleCare is convenient for both HCPs and patients.

Increasing patient satisfaction

The findings showed that a careful and consistent use of TeleCare as part of the HCP’s patient care workflow was key to leverage the full potential of remote care. Lueyne Hotz de Vasconcellos, Comunicare audiologist in Rio de Janeiro, is pleased with the advantages of this remote support. “Before TeleCare, we had to perform all adjustments in our store,” she recalls. “We tried to solve very specific issues such as hearing in noise, but it frequently resulted in returns by discouraged clients. Today, we are able to solve such issues in the place where they occur, increasing the level of satisfaction with the hearing aids. Patients have everything they need in their hands, from remote support to direct contact with the hearing care professional.”

TeleCare allows HCPs to stay in closer contact with their clients by making adjustments promptly with live remote tuning based on real-time feedback from their patients. This prevents small issues from growing into problems that could lead unsatisfied wearers to return their new hearing aids instead of purchasing them. After the first fit in-store, HCPs can conduct virtual follow-ups by using the CareChat functions of either text message, voice call or video call from their computer straight to the client’s smartphone. Satisfaction monitoring via the client’s myHearing App enables HCPs to identify potential problems early and solve them as soon as possible, without having to wait for the patient to come into the store.

Revolutionary convenience

Comunicare audiologist Iara Ferreira da Costa is also convinced of the benefits of such a flexible modern service to ensure higher customer satisfaction. “Like me, patients are delighted with the convenience offered by TeleCare,” she says. “We can give support to our patients where they are – it’s a revolutionary tool.” In addition to being easy-to-use, TeleCare offers the broadest compatibility in the industry: The TeleCare portal for HCPs is compatible with the full Signia hearing aid portfolio, while the myHearing App for hearing aid wearers is compatible with most smartphones. Plus, all data is handled to the highest data security and privacy standards in accordance with Germany’s TÜV certification process.

The Comunicare study clearly shows that once some initial HCP reluctance to use a new tool is overcome, TeleCare results in improved patient care and business growth.

The full study is available online in the Signia Library here.