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AuDacity 2025 - Agenda

AuDacity 2025

Hosted by the Academy of Doctors of Audiology (ADA) since 2016, the AuDacity Conference is the premier annual event designed for audiologists seeking to lead, innovate, and connect. Held each fall, AuDacity draws practitioners, thought leaders, educators, and industry partners together for several days of dynamic programming, hands-on learning, and meaningful collaboration.

Thank you AuDacity 2025 Sponsors!

Presenting Sponsor
Student Ed Sponsor
Go Social Sponsor
Bespoke Sponsor
Bespoke Sponsor
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Bespoke Sponsor
App Sponsor

Keynote Speaker

Susannah Fox
Former Chief Technology Officer for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Susannah Fox is a renowned health strategist, former Chief Technology Officer for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and author of Rebel Health: A Field Guide to the Patient-Led Revolution in Medical Care. Fox’s work documents the transformative power of patient-led innovation in healthcare. Drawing on two decades of research and interviews, she highlights how patients, survivors, and caregivers have pioneered solutions and built communities-often outside the mainstream system-to address unmet health needs. Her “rebel health” framework identifies four archetypes-seekers, networkers, solvers, and champions-who collectively drive change and improve care for all.

Featured Speaker

Lucy Orr-Ewing
Chief of Staff and Head of Policy, Coalition for Health AI

Lucy Orr-Ewing leads Policy efforts for CHAI and joins from Stanford Medicine as a Harkness Fellow in the Clinical Excellence Research Center. At Stanford, her research focused on the current landscape for testing and evaluation of Generative AI in healthcare, on best practice LLM deployment, and on patient perceptions of AI in healthcare.

Prior, she was Chief of Staff for Technology Policy for the National Health Service (NHS) in England, during which she convened more than 200 portfolios of work into one strategy, the Digital Health and Care Plan, and delivered the NHS’ first HealthTech Summit. She was also Head of Strategy for the Federated Data Platform Programme, the UK’s largest investment into its data infrastructure to connect all operational health data for the UK.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2025

05:00 PM - 08:00 PM

 Lobby Day Packet Pickup and Registration

More information coming soon!

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2025

07:00 AM - 05:00 PM

 Lobby Day Packet Pickup, Issue Briefing and Day on Capitol Hill

More information coming soon!

11:00 AM - 04:00 PM

 Technology Specialist/Audiology Assistant Workshop

Boost your practice’s efficiency and enhance patient experiences by enrolling your key staff members in the hands-on Technology Specialist Workshop, sponsored by Phonak at the AuDacity 2025 Conference! This practical training program is designed to upskill your team in the essential handling and troubleshooting of hearing technology and connectivity.

Learning Outcomes:

  • Audiology, hearing, and hearing loss
  • Hearing aid basics, programming, and troubleshooting
  • Connectivity support and device troubleshooting

By equipping essential staff with these core competencies, hearing care professionals can spend more time focused on clinical care. The long-term impact? A more efficient practice, improved patient outcomes, and measurable time savings across your team. A trained Technology Specialist streamlines workflow and reduces the time spent on technical support tasks—where it counts the most.

04:30 PM - 05:30 PM

 Meaningful Outcome Measures in Adult Hearing Health Care: A Report from The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine

This session will review the committee task, process, outcome, rational, and next steps for the recent report "Meaningful Outcome Measures in Adult Hearing Health Care" from The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine that culminated in a recommended core outcome set of measures for clinical and research studies related to non-surgical or implant hearing interventions.

Learning Outcomes:

  • Identify the task of the National Academies Committee
  • Describe the process for identifying core outcome domains and specific recommended questionnaires
  • Identify the current recommended core set of outcome measures for non-surgical hearing interventions

By equipping essential staff with these core competencies, hearing care professionals can spend more time focused on clinical care. The long-term impact? A more efficient practice, improved patient outcomes, and measurable time savings across your team. A trained Technology Specialist streamlines workflow and reduces the time spent on technical support tasks—where it counts the most.

Speaker: Nicholas Reed, Au.D., Ph.D.

05:30 PM - 07:00 PM

ADA Member Meeting

07:00 PM - 09:00 PM

Opening Reception and Dinner in the Exhibit Hall

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2025

07:00 AM - 08:00 AM

Breakfast in the Exhibit Hall

08:00 AM - 08:30 AM

President's Address & Awards

Speaker: Amyn Amlani, Ph.D.

08:30 AM - 10:00 AM

  Keynote Presentation: Rebel Health: The Patient-Led Revolution in Medical Care

More information coming soon!

Speaker: Susannah Fox

Moderator: Sheena Burks, Au.D., MBA

10:00 AM - 10:30 AM

Break in the Exhibit Hall & "Rebel Health" Book Signing

10:30 AM - 12:00 PM

 General Session: Advancing AI in Audiology: Predictive, Generative, Prescriptive, and Agentic

More information coming soon!

Speaker: Lucy Orr-Ewing

Panelists: Josiah Dykstra, Ph.D.; Matthew Fitzgerald, Ph.D.; Prasad Panchangam

12:00 PM - 12:15 PM

Business Plan Competition, Team 1

12:15 PM - 01:45 PM

Lunch in the Exhibit Hall/MAA Member Meeting

01:45 PM - 03:15 PM

 General Session: A Dentist, an Optometrist, and a Veterinarian Walk into an Audiology Conference

More information coming soon!

Speaker: Dr. Brian Harris, DDS; Brianna Rhue, OD, FAAO; Melissa Carnes Rose, Au.D.; Kathy Wiederkehr (Wentworth), V.M.D.

03:15 PM - 03:30 PM

Business Plan Competition, Team 2

03:30 PM - 04:00 PM

Break in the Exhibit Hall

04:00 PM - 04:15 PM

Business Plan Competition, Team 3

04:15 PM - 05:45 PM

 General Session: Medical Imaging for the Audiologist

More information coming soon!

Speakers: Alicia Spoor, Au.D.; Meslissa Segev, Au.D.

05:45 PM - 06:00 PM

Business Plan Competition Selection and Awards Presentation

06:00 PM - 07:00 PM

Reception in the Exhibit Hall

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2025

07:00 AM - 08:00 AM

Breakfast in the Exhibit Hall

08:00 AM - 09:30 AM

 Effectively Deploying Assistants and Dispensers in your Practice to Optimize Outcomes

More information coming soon!

Speakers: Amyn Amlani, Ph.D.; Alyssa Ricevuto, Au.D.


 AI and Audiology Outreach (Part 1): Enhancing Consumer Outreach with AI-Driven Strategies

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in business operations is transforming the healthcare landscape, and audiology practices stand to benefit significantly. The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing marketing strategies across industries, and audiology practices can harness its power to enhance consumer outreach. This seminar will focus on how AI-driven tactics can improve patient engagement, personalize communication, and drive consumer interest in hearing healthcare services. By leveraging AI tools such as chatbots, predictive analytics, voice search optimization, automated content creation, and hyper-personalized advertising, audiologists can effectively attract and retain patients. Attendees will gain practical insights into implementing AI-powered marketing techniques to expand their reach, increase patient conversion rates, and optimize the overall patient experience.

Learning Objectives:

  • Understand the role of AI in modern consumer-focused marketing strategies for audiology practices
  • Identify key AI tools and technologies that enhance direct patient outreach and engagement, such as chatbots, automated email campaigns, and personalized digital ads to attract and retain patients
  • Develop an AI-powered marketing framework tailored to their practice’s consumer engagement goals

Speaker: Michelle Carroll


 Speaking Their Language: How to Position Yourself as the Go-To Audiologist for Physicians

Many audiologists struggle to communicate effectively with physicians, feeling intimidated by medical marketing or unsure how to position themselves as essential healthcare partners. This session equips audiologists with the tools to effectively educate physicians, address common objections, and streamline the referral process. Attendees will learn how to frame hearing loss as a medical concern linked to dementia, fall risk, and cardiovascular health, making it a priority in primary care. Through concise messaging strategies, practical referral tools, and interactive exercises, audiologists will gain confidence in building physician relationships. This hybrid lecture and workshop format provides actionable steps to increase referrals and position private practice audiologists as the preferred choice over retail chains.

Learning Objectives:

  • Develop Confidence in Physician Outreach: Learn how to effectively communicate the importance of hearing healthcare and overcome intimidation in medical marketing
  • Address Physician Objections: Understand common concerns about referrals, patient costs, and time constraints, and learn how to position audiology as a key part of patient care
  • Implement an Effective Referral Strategy: Use proven tools like physician-friendly handouts, referral workflows, and follow-up techniques to increase referrals and strengthen relationships

Speaker: Katie Armotoski, Au.D.


 Recruiting Best Practices and Strategies

The Bureau of Labor and Statistics states that the employment of audiologists is projected to grow 11 percent between now and 2032. Are your practice and your team ready to grow alongside the industry? Attend this course to get the tools and knowledge needed to find, attract, interview, and retain top candidates in a competitive market.

Learning Objectives:

  • Upon completion of this session, the participant will be able to build and execute a successful recruitment cycle
  • Upon completion of this session, the participant will be able to attract and retain candidates to align with business goals
  • Upon completion of this session, the participant will be able to engage with and support new employees through onboarding processes

Speaker: Steve Hughbanks


 Marketrak25: Industry Landscape

This presentation will discuss the results of MarkeTrak25, and provide a comprehensive overview of the hearing aid industry, highlighting key trends and developments shaping its future. We will include new data on hearing aid adoption, OTC usage, cochlear implant overview and key data on hearing loss by age. We will also compare the latest data from MT25 to MT22 to provide insights into changes in market dynamics. Attendees will gain valuable insights into the intersection of industry trends and consumer empowerment.

This lecture will provide the following insights: 1) a look into the issues that examined in MarkeTrak 2025; 2) the delivery of hearing healthcare and how the issues discussed may influence the hearing industry; 3) A look into the evolving consumer experience.

Learning Objectives:

  • Describe the different forces impacting the delivery of hearing health care and hearing aids
  • Discuss the impact of OTC devices including acquisition and usage
  • Integrate insights to improve the consumer experience

Speaker: Bridget Dobyan, Executive Director, Hearing Industries Association; Tom Powers, Ph.D., Powers Consulting, LLC

08:00 AM - 01:00 PM

Student Track

09:30 AM - 10:00 AM

Break in the Exhibit Hall

10:00 AM - 11:30 AM

 Pharmaceutical Intervention for Cisplatin-Related Ototoxicity

More information coming soon!

Speaker: TBD


 AI and Audiology Outreach (Part 2): Breaking the Sound Barrier: AI, Prompt Engineering & Health Literacy Strategies to Revolutionize Hearing Healthcare Marketing & Advocacy

How we market, educate, and advocate for audiology is changing—are we keeping up? This session will examine the readability and accessibility of hearing healthcare materials that prompt new engineering strategies using AI-powered tools to optimize marketing, physician referrals, and advocacy messaging.. Attendees will learn how advanced AI prompts can generate effective, engaging, and audience-specific content, ensuring audiologists’ messages reach patients, providers, and policymakers. We will highlight real-world disparities and provide actionable AI-driven solutions to improve communication in private practice. AI is the future of audiology advocacy—this session will show you how to use it effectively.

Learning Objectives:

  • Recognize the importance of healthcare literacy and readability in hearing healthcare materials and how AI-powered prompt engineering can optimize patient communication, physician referrals, and advocacy efforts
  • Apply AI-driven marketing strategies to improve clinic visibility, patient engagement, and collaboration with physicians and policymakers, ensuring content is accessible to diverse literacy levels
  • Develop prompt engineering skills to generate customized, strategic, and easy-to-understand content that enhances accessibility and empowers private practices to communicate effectively with patients and stakeholders

Speakers: Nora Visscher-Simon, Au.D.; Maansi Aghera, Au.D.


 The Social Consequences of Hearing Loss: Are Hearing Aids Enough?

Research suggests that many persons with hearing loss lack effective coping skills and tend to avoid social interactions, often deepening their isolation and loneliness. This course explores the relationship between hearing loss and social connectedness, including how properly fitted hearing aids and other audiological interventions might promote better social engagement through improved communication in multi-talker, noisy situations, reduced listening-related fatigue, restored music enjoyment, increased confidence and positive social impact.

Learning Objectives:

  • Define social disconnectedness and its impact on daily living
  • Describe the relationship between age-related hearing loss and social connectedness
  • Describe how the fitting of hearing aids could improve the various facets of social engagement

Speaker: Brian Taylor, Au.D.


 Mastering Crucial Conversations: Proven Strategies for Navigating High-Stakes Conversations Resulting in Stronger Relationships

Crucial conversations are an inevitable part of any private practice, but they can often feel uncomfortable or lead to unproductive outcomes. Whether you’re addressing a co-worker, employee, or patient, conversations with strong emotions, high stakes and differing opinions can be challenging. In this session, you’ll learn proven techniques from Crucial Learning and cognitive behavioral methods to navigate these high-stakes moments with confidence. This course will help you create safety in conversations, allowing you to communicate openly with almost anyone about anything. You’ll learn to identify and resolve communication barriers, stay composed when emotions run high, and articulate your needs while respecting others’ viewpoints. By mastering these tools, you’ll strengthen relationships, achieve better results, and transform difficult interactions into opportunities for growth.

Learning Objectives:

  • Participants will be able to create safety with their co-workers, employees or patients so they can talk with almost anyone about almost anything
  • Participants will be able to identify problems contributing to poor results and struggling relationships
  • Participants will be able to describe how to keep composure when feeling angry or defensive and identify what stories they may be telling themselves

Speaker: Laurel Gregory, MA


 Hearing Aid Fittings for the Cognitively Impaired

As hearing aid technology advances, so must our clinical approach, especially when working with older adults who often present with both peripheral hearing loss and central auditory or cognitive decline. This session examines how standard hearing aid fittings may fall short for these patients, and in some cases, introduce distortion that worsens speech perception and increases listening effort.

Learning Objectives:

  • Upon completion, participants will learn how to apply cognitive-informed fitting strategies to reduce distortion and support real-world communication
  • Upon completion, participants will learn how to integrate auditory processing and cognitive considerations into hearing aid selection, programming, and counseling
  • Upon completion, participants will be able to apply core acoustic principles to minimize distortion and optimize clarity in complex patients
  • Upon completion, participants will understand how to critically evaluate and apply advanced AI-driven features in hearing aids to enhance selection and programming, particularly for patients with complex auditory and cognitive needs.

Speaker: Heidi Hill, Au.D.

11:30 AM - 01:00 PM

Lunch in the Exhibit Hall

01:00 PM - 02:30 PM

 Cerumen Management Workshop

More information coming soon!

Speakers: Jiovanne Hughart, Au.D.; Rita Chaiken, Au.D.


 Integrating Multi-Modal Biomarkers for Personalized Auditory and Associated Mental Health Insights: The SAiWELL Audiological Insights Platform

Hearing loss is intricately linked to cognitive decline, mental wellness, and overall quality of life. Traditional audiometric assessments provide critical diagnostic information but fail to capture the broader physiological and psychological risk factors influencing auditory health. The SAiWELL Auditory Health Insights Platform is a novel, multi-modal risk stratification model that integrates phenotypic bio-marker based profiling, audiometry data, word recognition scores, tympanometry results, and mental wellness markers. By analyzing data from thousands of patients across distinct risk clusters, SAiWELL provides a personalized, predictive measure of auditory health, helping clinicians proactively identify at-risk individuals. This approach enables data-driven counseling, targeted interventions, and long-term monitoring. SAiWELL represents a paradigm shift in audiology, bridging the gap between hearing diagnostics and mental well-being for holistic, patient-centered care.

Learning Objectives:

  • Understand Multi-Modal Risk Stratification – Gain insights into how integrating phenotypic bio-marker based profiling, audiometry data, tympanometry, and mental wellness markers enhances risk classification for auditory health
  • Apply Data-Driven Personalization in Audiology – Learn how the SAiWELL Auditory Health Insights and Scoring enables individualized patient counseling, proactive interventions, and long-term monitoring to improve hearing and mental wellness outcomes
  • Bridge the Gap Between Hearing Health and Mental Well-Being – Explore how cognitive, emotional, and physiological risk factors influence auditory function and how AI-driven insights can empower clinicians to provide holistic, patient-centered care

Speaker: Prasad Panchangam


 Lifestyle Medicine Marketing: Making the Audiology Connection to Connectedness

More information coming soon!

Speakers: Sheena Burks, Au.D., MBA; Jill Davis, Au.D.


 Innovations with Speech in Noise Assessment: The Present and the Future.

Here we present speech recognition data in quiet and noise from thousands of patients with hearing loss. These data support using speech-in-noise testing as the default in audiologic assessment, reserving word-recognition in quiet for when performance is likely to be suoboptimal. We will also demonstrate between-session repeatability of speech tests as a function of hearing loss and baseline performance. Finally, we will show preliminary results from our AI-based tool for automatic speech recognition, which is capable of scoring audiologic tests in any language. Taken together, this research aims to modernize audiologic practice and better align testing with patient concerns.

Learning Outcomes:

  1. Participants will be able to describe the relationship between speech recognition in quiet and noise
  2. Participants will be able to articulate how repeatability of speech recognition tests change with increasing hearing loss
  3. Participants will be able to report on new developments in artificial intelligence for scoring tests of speech recognition in quiet and noise

Speakers: Matthew Fitzgerald, Ph.D.

02:30 PM - 03:00 PM

Break in the Exhibit Hall

03:00 PM - 04:30 PM

 Cerumen Management Workshop

More information coming soon!

Speakers: Jiovanne Hughart, Au.D.; Rita Chaiken, Au.D.


 AI-Powered Aural Rehab: In Clinical Practice

Aural rehabilitation has long been underutilized, despite strong evidence that it improves hearing aid adoption, reduces returns, and enhances patient outcomes. Lace AI Pro is redefining auditory training with an AI-powered, patient-led platform that makes aural rehabilitation practical and scalable for modern clinics. This session will explore how patient-led training can enhance hearing care, improve speech-in-noise comprehension, and strengthen cognitive function. Attendees will see a fun, live demonstration of key features and gain actionable strategies for integrating aural rehab into clinical workflows without adding to their workload. Attendees will also get a first look at new patient data showing that compliance with AI-powered aural rehab now surpasses that of physical therapy—the gold standard for rehabilitation in medicine.

Learning Objectives:

  • Understand the research-backed connection between hearing loss and cognitive decline
  • Implement patient-led auditory rehabilitation strategies to support cognitive function and engagement
  • Position hearing health as a key factor in brain health to improve patient compliance and long-term outcomes

Speakers: Rick Carlson, MBA; Miles Aron, Ph.D.


 Hearing Aids and SCIF

More information coming soon!

Speaker: Kimberly Jenkins, Au.D.


 State Advocacy: Scope Modernization

More information coming soon!

Speakers: Bryan Greenaway, Au.D.; Jana Brown; Alicia Spoor, Au.D.; Stephanie Czuhajewski, MPH

04:30 PM

Exhibit Hall Closes

05:30 PM - 06:30 PM

Closing Reception

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2025

08:00 AM - 09:45 AM

 Legal Issues in Audiology (Part 1)

More information coming soon!

Speaker: Brandon Pauley, ESQ.


 Tinnitus Workshop (Part 1)

More information coming soon!

Speakers: Jason Leyendecker, Au.D.; Emily McMahan, Au.D.


 The 2026 Hearing Aid Service Code Changes and Resulting Considerations Regarding Network Participation Status (Part 1)

The new CPT hearing aid service codes, that are slated to go into effect on January 1, 2026, completely alter the hearing aid billing landscape. In this presentation, we will provide a detailed discussion on each code, their probable and appropriate uses, modifiers, and documentation requirements.

In light of these changes and their potential impact on practice operations and revenues, will also discuss the pros and cons of health plan network participation, including the steps to evaluating a health plan contracts and allowable rates schedules. We will provide a step-by-step guide to evaluating a specific managed care agreement and making the business decision on network participation.

Learning Objectives:

  • Upon completion, participants will be able to list the new hearing aid service codes for 2026
  • Upon completion, participants will be able to list the CPT codes that are scheduled to be deleted on January 1, 2026
  • Upon completion, participants will be able to list the common pros and cons of health plan network participation
  • Upon completion, participants will be able to locate applicable health plan medical and coverage policies
  • Upon completion, participants will be able to describe the steps required to make health plan participation decisions

Speaker: Kim Cavitt, Au.D.

09:45 AM - 10:00 AM

Break

10:00 AM - 11:30 AM

 Legal Issues in Audiology (Part 2)

More information coming soon!

Speaker: Brandon Pauley, ESQ.


 Tinnitus Workshop (Part 2)

More information coming soon!

Speakers: Jason Leyendecker, Au.D.; Emily McMahan, Au.D.

10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

 The 2026 Hearing Aid Service Code Changes and Resulting Considerations Regarding Network Participation Status (Part 2)

The new CPT hearing aid service codes, that are slated to go into effect on January 1, 2026, completely alter the hearing aid billing landscape. In this presentation, we will provide a detailed discussion on each code, their probable and appropriate uses, modifiers, and documentation requirements.

In light of these changes and their potential impact on practice operations and revenues, will also discuss the pros and cons of health plan network participation, including the steps to evaluating a health plan contracts and allowable rates schedules. We will provide a step-by-step guide to evaluating a specific managed care agreement and making the business decision on network participation.

Learning Objectives:

  • Upon completion, participants will be able to list the new hearing aid service codes for 2026
  • Upon completion, participants will be able to list the CPT codes that are scheduled to be deleted on January 1, 2026
  • Upon completion, participants will be able to list the common pros and cons of health plan network participation
  • Upon completion, participants will be able to locate applicable health plan medical and coverage policies
  • Upon completion, participants will be able to describe the steps required to make health plan participation decisions

Speaker: Kim Cavitt, Au.D.