Choosing a provider
Hearing Instrument Specialist, Audiologist, or ENT?
Three different professions, routinely confused, with real differences in training and scope. Here is an honest account of what each does — and when we are not the right call.
What we are
Wichita Falls Hearing is led by a board-certified hearing instrument specialist, not an audiologist. We think you should know that before you book, and we would rather tell you plainly than let the word "audiologist" sit vaguely in a search result.
A hearing instrument specialist is licensed by the state — in Texas, by the Department of Licensing and Regulation — to evaluate hearing for the purpose of fitting amplification, and to select, fit, program, verify and service hearing aids.
Board certification (BC-HIS) is a further voluntary credential from the National Board for Certification in Hearing Instrument Sciences, requiring documented experience, a national examination and ongoing continuing education. Beyond that, our owner currently chairs the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation advisory board for the fitting and dispensing of hearing instruments — the body that sets the standards this profession is held to across Texas — and is a past president of the Texas Hearing Aid Association.
That is an unusual amount of involvement in how the profession is regulated for a practice this size, and it is the reason we are comfortable being specific about what we do and do not do.
What we hold ourselves to
Credentials describe who is qualified. These are the things we actually do at every fitting, and they are worth asking any provider about — including us.
Real-ear measurement on every fitting
Objective verification that what reaches your eardrum matches your prescription, rather than trusting the manufacturer default. A substantial share of providers still skip this.
A full diagnostic evaluation first
We establish the type, degree and shape of the loss before anyone discusses a device. The shape matters more than the number.
Repairs on site
An in-house lab means most faults are resolved during the visit rather than posted away for weeks.
Follow-up as part of the care
A hearing aid is a course of treatment, not a purchase. Fine-tuning after the fitting is where outcomes are actually won.
Honest scope
Where something falls outside what we do, we refer it rather than improvise. The list is immediately below and it is not a long one, but it is real.
How the three professions differ
The short version: an ENT is a physician who treats ear disease, an audiologist holds a doctoral degree with a broader diagnostic and rehabilitative scope, and a hearing instrument specialist is a licensed professional focused on assessing hearing for and fitting amplification.
Hearing instrument specialist (HIS / BC-HIS)
State-licensed. Tests hearing for the purpose of fitting, selects and programs hearing aids, verifies with real-ear measurement, handles repairs and long-term follow-up.
Audiologist (AuD)
Doctoral-level. Everything above, plus a wider diagnostic scope — paediatrics, balance and vestibular testing, cochlear implant candidacy and mapping, complex central auditory work.
ENT / otolaryngologist (MD)
A physician and surgeon. Diagnoses and treats disease of the ear — infection, perforation, otosclerosis, tumours, sudden hearing loss. The one who can prescribe and operate.
When you should see someone else instead of us
This is the part most practices leave out, so here it is directly. Come to us for adult hearing evaluation, hearing aids, fitting and verification, repairs, wax removal and ongoing care. Go elsewhere first for the following, and we will tell you the same thing if you book with us anyway.
See a physician or ENT promptly for: sudden hearing loss in one ear, which is time-critical; ear pain, drainage or suspected infection; a known or suspected perforated eardrum; vertigo with hearing change; hearing loss after a head injury; or anything that looks like it needs medicine or surgery rather than amplification.
See an audiologist for three things in particular: hearing testing in infants and children, formal balance and vestibular assessment, and cochlear implant candidacy and programming. We are an adult hearing care practice and we do not do those. That is a deliberate scope rather than a gap — we would rather refer you to someone who does that work every week than improvise our way through it.
What actually predicts a good outcome
Credentials set the floor, not the ceiling. Once you are in the right category of provider for your problem, the things that separate a good hearing aid outcome from a bad one are mostly about process.
Ask any provider you are considering — us included — whether they perform real-ear measurement to verify the fitting. It is the objective check that the amplification reaching your eardrum matches your prescription rather than the manufacturer’s default, and a substantial share of providers still skip it. Ask what follow-up is included and for how long, because a hearing aid is a course of care rather than a purchase. Ask about the trial period and what is refundable. Ask who does repairs and where they happen.
A provider who answers those four questions clearly is more likely to serve you well than one with an impressive title and a vague process.
Common Questions
Is a hearing instrument specialist the same as an audiologist?+
Do I need an audiologist to get hearing aids?+
What does BC-HIS mean?+
Do I need a referral to be seen here?+
Is Wichita Falls Hearing an audiology practice?+
Who should I see for sudden hearing loss?+
Keep reading
Meet the team
Who you will actually be seeing, and what they are credentialed to do.
Hearing tests in Wichita Falls
What our evaluation covers, and what the results tell you.
Hearing loss: types and causes
Understanding what you have makes choosing a provider much easier.
Real-ear measurement
The verification step worth asking every provider about.
Still not sure who you need?
Call and describe what is going on. If the answer is a physician rather than us, we will say so.