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by Jeanette Janota
For more than 20 years, audiologists have provided information to ASHA on topics of interest through the Association's Omnibus Survey. In 2003 the survey was sent to a sample of 7,500 constituents in the United States with proportionate representation by area of certification. Of those surveyed, 58%-or 4,387-responded.
According to year-end member counts for 2003, which are calculated separately from the omnibus survey, the number of ASHA-certified audiologists stands at 12,816. The demographic data, updated twice a year and gathered from the annual dues invoice, shows that 17% of certified audiologists work in an educational facility (schools or universities), 72% in health care (48% in nonresidential health care settings, 23% in hospital settings, and 2% in residential health care facilities), with the rest in other types of facilities.
Nearly 81% are employed as clinical service providers, with the remainder working in other roles including as teachers, researchers, and administrators.
According to the omnibus survey, certified audiologists in the 2003 sample who worked as clinical service providers in health care facilities responded to a question about the amount of time they spent in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Including only those who spent at least some time in a NICU, the average (mean) amount of direct time was 15% and the average indirect time was 11%.
Audiologic Rehabilitation
The proportion of clinical service providers who provided audiologic rehabilitation (AR) for patients varied by type of facility: 56% in the schools, 64% in hospitals, and 77% in nonresidential health care facilities. Audiologists delivering school services were least likely of the three groups to charge separately for AR services (13%).
Assistive listening devices were the most commonly provided AR services in schools (97%), while post-fitting adjustments were the most commonly provided services in hospitals (95%) and in nonresidential health care facilities (96%). Cerumen management was infrequent in schools (8%) as was speechreading in hospitals (6%) and in nonresidential health care facilities (9%).
School Services
The Omnibus Survey included a list of 12 activities, from conducting in-service training to supervision. Audiologists who work in the schools were asked how many hours they spent on each activity in a typical week. The largest amount of time was spent in diagnostic evaluations, scoring, and analysis (11 hours). Direct intervention was the second most time-consuming activity (9 hours), followed by record keeping, paperwork, and report writing (6 hours).
School-based audiologists were also asked the number of weekly hours they spent in each of six models of service delivery. More hours were spent on traditional pull-out service than any other model (11 hours). The least amount of time was spent in a resource room environment (less than 1 hour).
Productivity Requirement
Among certified audiologists who work in the schools with at least one individual in their caseload, the mean number of clients they served in a typical month was 92; the median was 50. (To calculate the mean, add the total of all the values and divide by the number of items. To determine the median, arrange the values in order, from lowest to highest, and select the one in the middle position. Medians are more stable and less susceptible to extreme values than are means.)
When asked about productivity requirements, audiologists were more likely to report productivity in terms of required hours per day than in required percentages. The median value across settings was seven hours (in an eight-hour day). For those few people who reported a percent productivity requirement, the mean was 78% and the median was 73% in hospitals. In nonresidential health care facilities, the mean was 84% and the median was 90%.
Visit the Member Counts page on ASHA's Web site for current information about the function, facility, age, gender, and other demographic information about audiologists.
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