Your hearing connects you to everything, family, work, safety, music. So when it needs help, the person you trust with it matters as much as the technology they fit. Here's what certification actually tells you, and why it's worth looking for.
What the letters mean
Hearing instrument specialists are licensed by the state, which sets the baseline: training, examination and legal accountability. Board certification, the BC-HIS credential (Board Certified in Hearing Instrument Sciences), goes a step beyond. It's a national credential earned by passing a rigorous exam covering ear anatomy, audiometric testing, hearing aid technology and fitting science, and it signals a commitment to continuing education long after the license is framed. It's the highest level of accreditation in the hearing instrument field, and it's the credential our founder, Nevin G. Balliet, BC-HIS, holds.
Why it matters in practice
- Testing you can rely on. Accurate audiometry is a skill; your entire treatment plan is built on those numbers.
- Recognizing what isn't hearing-aid territory. Certified specialists are trained to spot the red flags, sudden loss, one-sided loss, drainage, pain, that call for medical referral rather than a device.
- Fitting science, not guesswork. Programming a hearing aid to a hearing loss (and verifying it with methods like live speech mapping) is where certified skill shows up as real-world clarity.
- Accountability. Certification comes with ethics requirements and a standard to maintain, meaningful in a field where a box store can legally sell you amplification with no relationship attached.
Credentials plus character
The credential gets a specialist to the table; how they treat you keeps them there. Our practice was founded on two principles: follow the Golden Rule, and always try to do the right thing. That means honest recommendations based on your hearing, lifestyle and budget, never a sales quota, with a 30-day trial to back it up. Meet our team and read what our patients say, then come see the difference certification-plus-care makes.