California Hearing Center & Audiology Services, Inc., in San Mateo and San Carlos, California is the first clinic to complete Inspired by Ida, our new program for training and recognition in person-centered care.
Clinics earn the Inspired by Ida label of quality when hearing care and front-end staff complete two foundational courses in the Ida Learning Hall: “Getting Started with Person-Centered Care” and “Client Engagement and Ida Motivation Tools.” They can then display the label in their clinic, in electronic communication, and in advertisements to signal their commitment to applying principles of person-centered care in their daily practices.
We checked in with the California Hearing Center to find out what earning the Inspired by Ida benchmark of quality means to them.
Putting person-centered care into practice
California Hearing Center Practice Owner and Audiologist Dr. Darcy Benson, AuD, jumped at the opportunity for her clinic to earn the Inspired by Ida label so that her staff could gain a deeper understanding of person-centered care, a founding principle of their clinic.
“They have heard me talk about person-centered care so many times, but I think it was really an abstract vision for them until they took these courses,” she says. “The program allowed front and back office staff alike to come away with a more concrete concept of what person-centered care means, and the audiologists were able to add more person-centered techniques to their toolkit.”
Dr. Benson shared that when she introduced the program to her staff they were quite enthusiastic.
Lais Ama, Senior Audiologist at California Hearing Center, said, “The Ida classes for patient-centered care proved to be excellent for hearing care providers like myself. The program has inspired me to improve the impact of my work on patients’ lives.”
Laura Street, Audiologist, added, “I appreciate participating in a program that emphasizes person-centered care. Many audiologists choose this profession because they want to help people, but sometimes we might lose sight of how to do this within the demands of a busy clinic schedule. It is nice to have a program that gives value to what I find most important in patient-clinician interactions—that is to say, understanding the patient’s perspective, co-creating a treatment plan, and achieving quality-of-life improvements. It is nice to be acknowledged for providing person-centered care.”
Audiology Assistant Geleeza Idolyantes echoed her colleagues’ sentiments. “I appreciated seeing things from a different perspective, and the videos included in the courses of other clinicians using Ida tools and person-centered care strategies during actual appointments were very helpful,” she said.
Embracing the approach
“In the hearing care field we may all think that we know what ‘person-centered care’ means, but perhaps what we think it is and what person-centered care actually is, are two different things. I am pleased that my clinic has now received training from experts in the field of person-centered care concepts and practical tools for implementing it,” Dr. Benson said.
Dr. Benson says that the Inspired by Ida label helps the community they serve understand what makes their practice unique.
“The Inspired by Ida certification is a way for our practice, which has embraced the approach of person-centered care for many years, to differentiate ourselves in our community. The Inspired by Ida label will help people in our community know who we are – a person-centered practice – and we are proud to be a part of this movement in health care.”
Learn more about Inspired by Ida and how your clinic can participate.