An Optometrist, a Dentist, and a Veterinarian Walk Into an Audiology Conference explores how audiology can learn from the experiences of fellow doctoring professions that have navigated many of the same challenges in private practice, managed care, and interdisciplinary integration. While each discipline serves unique patient populations, all share common ground in balancing clinical excellence with sustainable business practices, ensuring patient access to care, and positioning their profession within the broader healthcare ecosystem.
Through engaging case examples and cross-disciplinary insights, participants will discover how optometry, dentistry, and veterinary medicine have successfully tackled issues such as reimbursement models, patient financing, collaborative care pathways, and practice innovation. This session will highlight practical lessons audiologists can apply to strengthen their role in integrated care, enhance financial sustainability, and elevate the patient experience in both private practice and institutional settings.
Attendees will be able to:
- Describe how optometry, dentistry, and veterinary medicine have integrated into broader health systems and identify strategies audiology can adapt to strengthen its role in interdisciplinary care and patient-centered outcomes
- Evaluate financing and reimbursement strategies used in dentistry, optometry, and veterinary care (e.g., third-party managed care, direct-pay models, patient financing programs) and apply these insights to develop more sustainable practice models in audiology that improve patient access while maintaining financial viability
- Compare innovations in private practice management across clinical doctoring professions, including approaches to patient loyalty, preventive care education, and the use of extenders to enhance competitiveness and long-term patient relationships.
