Audiologist Letter to Pharmacist
Dear [Insert Pharmacist Name or Pharmacy Name Here],
Greetings! We hope that this letter finds you well.
I’m [insert first name or first + last name], an audiologist.
As you may know, over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids are expected to hit the pharmacy shelves soon. We understand and highly respect that, as pharmacists, you may be the first or last (prior to purchase) health-care provider that a patient approaches for advice on their hearing difficulties. I am writing to invite you to collaborate with me so that, together, we can provide high-quality patient-centered hearing health-care. OTC hearing aids, just like any other OTC product, may be appropriate for some but not all patients who come through the pharmacy door.
Before OTC hearing aids hit the shelves, our goal is to help pharmacists feel prepared and supported by audiologists to take on this new crucial task of triaging patients and their hearing health-care needs. Attached are some resources that we hope will be helpful to you—they touch on the following topics:
- what an audiologist is and when to refer a person to an audiologist or ENT
- patient hearing checklist
- audiologist referral sheet
- when to stop using an OTC hearing aid [infographic]
- pharmacist learning course for OTC hearing aids
In this ever-changing hearing health-care landscape, we have an opportunity to join together to provide the best patient-centered care. I look forward to further communication and collaboration. I can be reached at [insert telephone number] or [insert email address].
Sincerely, Your Neighborhood Audiologist(s),
[Insert Name(s) Here, AuD/MS, CCC-A]
