ADA President Praises Academy’s Accomplishments
At the Academy of Dispensing Audiologists (ADA) 25th annual convention, held at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC, on October 21-25, Academy president Robert Manning, AuD (left), used his President’s Address to praise the educational and political victories recently achieved by the Academy.

Manning began his address by briefly speaking about the recent terrorist attacks and welcoming the attendees and guests assembled. He then recalled the move ADA took in 1988 to transition the profession to one requiring a doctoral-level education when it formed the Audiology Foundation of America (AFA) and charged it with establishing the AuD as audiologists’ professional designator.

“Over the years,” Manning said, “the AFA worked with programs or encouraged programs to develop models for training existing audiologists who wished to transition to the AuD without going back to school. Currently, there are five distance-learning programs available to our practicing members.”

Manning added that “the AFA has worked very diligently to promote the development of residential training facilities across the country. A recent survey completed by the National Association of Future Doctors of Audiology (NAFDA) this past summer indicates there are 16 programs training AuDs. Their survey also indicates that there will be 76 AuD training programs by the year 2007. Combining the total number of resident training students, the total number of distance learning candidates and the graduates of each of these training models to date, the total number of AuD candidates and graduates is now approaching the 2000 mark. This represents approximately 20% of the entire profession.”

ADA officers include (l to r) James McDonald, past president; Cynthia Ellison, president-elect; Robert Manning, president; Charles Stone, secretary; Cynthia Earle, director; James Rippy, treasurer; and Craig Johnson, director.

Manning also pointed out the ADA’s successes in the political arena, noting that the Academy has worked with the American Academy of Audiology (AAA) to make significant changes in state and federal policies that affect reimbursement for services. This joint effort, he said, has persuaded Medicare to accept Diagnosis Code 389 for reimbursement. In addition, a commitment has been received from Medicaid regulators to review the definition of an audiologist in the hopes that they will drop the CCC as a requirement for reimbursement.

Manning went on to describe a profile of the members of the ADA. “It is estimated that our members are responsible for the sale and fitting of approximately 20% of all of the hearing aids sold in the US on an annual basis.” He noted that a recent ADA survey indicated 65% of members’ income is derived from hearing instrument sales and related services. In addition, ADA’s members have spent an average of 21.2 years in the profession and 13.6 years in private practice.

In his closing remarks, Manning said that he is pleased with the Academy’s accomplishments. “The ADA is clearly focused and on track,” he said. “We are the home for the clinical practitioner, the Doctor of Audiology. In the future, our Academy will continue to focus on those issues that will help to ensure our member’s success.”

The theme of this year’s meeting was “Appreciating the Past–Envisioning the Future.” Next year’s convention will be held on October 9-13, 2002, at the Riviera Hotel in Palm Springs, CA.