Buffalo Hearing & Speech Center

“My review is specific to audiologist Alison Ulatowski at BHSC's Buffalo (North Street) location. BHSC was recommended by my primary care physician who wasn't particularly enthusiastic about anyone, but had a list of providers he couldn't and wouldn't recommend. I've had three visits with Alison, an audiological exam and test; a review of the results with a discussion of hearing aids and the fitting of a data-collecting trial pair of HAs; after 2+ weeks of trial, there was a followup consultation with adjustments. I'm currently continuing my first trial and in another week, I expect to settle on another pair of HAs for further trial and possible purchase. Initially, I was very leery about the whole process. I had an audiological exam elsewhere two years earlier at which time I abandoned further consideration of HAs because I was very uneasy with the audiologist and his practice, despite being convinced that I needed some hearing assistance. I was very up front with Alison, telling her that I was very uneasy about everything I've heard about hearing aids, their high cost, the lack of clear patient information, reports of poor durability and high ongoing costs. Alison was sympathetic to my concerns and informed me that BHSC is a non-profit agency and that her compensation was divorced from any sales and that she refused to engage in any up-selling. She clearly stated that she felt that her patients should purchase the highest level of technology they could afford, but most of her patients were not on unlimited budgets and, while some features are essential to some patients, many aren't, so the final choice must be up to the patient. So far, she has been very patient, spending as much time with me as I felt necessary and I am under no pressure to get through the trial process. I expect to try one or two more products until I'm happy with my choice. I initially thought that I'd get an audiogram and then buy a set of HAs on the web, where significant savings are available. After working with Alison and viewing her software, at her invitation, I'm now convinced that that's a foolish path to take, particularly when contemplating a high-tech set of aids. All of the enhanced "features" need some programming, which entails some data collection and analysis and the participation of the patient. So far, on the trial set, Alison has done exactly that. I suspect that, had I purchased on the web they would have been tuned to my audiogram and the multiple "programs" would have been set to the factory defaults. I would have been on my own trying to figure out how to deal with the annoying feedback I experienced, which she solved in 10 minutes and the $2,000 (my guess) upgrade from a base model would be for naught. So far, I'm very pleased with everything at BHSC. We'll see how I feel after I find out how much the HAs I ultimately choose cost. ”

“She's knowledgeable.”