Montana Hearing Aid Dispensing Requirements

The profession of hearing aid dispenser is regulated at the state level and each state maintains its own standards for licensure or registration.

Initial Licensure Requirements

• Be a person of good moral character
• Have an education equivalent to a 4-year course in an accredited high school or holds a current license as an audiologist
• Be free of contagious or infectious disease

Reciprocity

When the board determines that another state or jurisdiction has requirements equivalent to or higher than those in effect under this chapter for the practice of dispensing, fitting, and selling hearing aids and that the state or jurisdiction has a program equivalent to or stricter than the program for determining whether applicants under this chapter are qualified to sell, dispense, and fit hearing aids, the board may authorize the department to issue a license to applicants who hold current, unsuspended, and unrevoked licenses to fit, dispense, and sell hearing aids in the other state or jurisdiction.

Continuing Education

Licensees are required to complete ten clock hours of continuing education each renewal period and must attest to their compliance on renewal applications.

Audiologist Dispensing

Audiologists may dispense under audiology license.

Board Composition

The Board of Hearing Aid Dispensers consists of five members appointed by the governor with the consent of the senate, including: two members, each of whom has been a licensed hearing aid dispenser for at least 5 years, possesses a current audiologist license, and has a master's level college degree; two members, each of whom does not hold a master's level college degree in audiology but has been a licensed dispenser and fitter of hearing aids for at least 5 years before being appointed to the board; and one public member who is either an otolaryngologist or a person who is not a licensed hearing aid dispenser or a licensed audiologist and who regularly uses a hearing aid because of a demonstrated hearing impairment.

Facilities, Procedures and Instrumentation

• The following tests shall be performed as specified:
  • Air conduction tests shall be conducted bilaterally in accordance with American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standard frequencies of 250-500-1000-2000-4000-6000 hertz. Appropriate masking shall be used.
  • Bone conduction tests shall be conducted bilaterally, if appropriate, on every patient in accordance with ANSI standards at 500-1000-2000-4000 hertz. Appropriate masking shall be used.
  • Speech reception threshold and discrimination testing shall be conducted in a quiet environment, with appropriate masking used and measurement of user discomfort level.
• At the time of fitting or during the course of the trial period, the dispenser will verify and validate the hearing aid fitting and document the results. Verification refers to generally accepted standards of practice to objectively analyze aided performance, while validation establishes the patient's perceived improvement.
• All audiometers shall be calibrated to ANSI standards once a year.

Trial Period

30 days from date of delivery.

Mail Order

Mail order dispensing is not addressed in the law/regulations.

Resources

The information contained herein was collected and summarized annually. For detailed information on hearing aid dispenser requirements, contact the state board and visit these websites:

Board of Hearing Aid Dispensers Laws

Board of Hearing Aid Dispenser Regulations [PDF]

Questions regarding this document? Call ASHA at 800-498-2071 and ask for the State Advocacy Team.