ADA Letter of Support for HB-925 Practice of Audiology
Chair Dustin Miller
Vice Chair Wayne McMahen
Committee on Health and Welfare
PO Box 94062
900 North 3rd Street
Baton Rouge, LA 70804
RE: HB-925 Practice of Audiology
Position: SUPPORT
Dear Chair Miller, Vice Chair McMahen and Committee Members,
I write to you today on behalf of the Academy of Doctors of Audiology (ADA), a professional association representing audiologists in Louisiana and across the United States, to support and endorse HB 925, which will make important updates to Louisiana’s audiology practice act to bring it into alignment with evidence-based practices in the delivery of hearing and balance care.
Audiologists are clinical doctoring professionals who are trained to independently evaluate, diagnose, manage, and treat auditory and vestibular conditions, and to identify conditions that require additional diagnostic testing and/or a referral to a physician or another clinical specialist. A Doctor of Audiology (Au.D.) degree is the first professional degree required to become a clinical audiologist in all 50 states, including Louisiana.
Audiologists’ formal clinical training and education is consistent with, or more advanced than other providers who are already authorized to order blood tests and radiographic imaging in Louisiana.1,2,3 Audiologists already routinely use non-radiographic imaging in practice to conduct video otoscopy and to create ear molds, and the statute must be updated to codify these technological advancements.
HB 925 also includes appropriate statutory limitations on audiologists’ scope of practice, by explicitly prohibiting audiologists from performing surgery, radiographic imaging, and other services that are outside of their education and training.
Louisiana also faces well-documented healthcare workforce shortages.4,5 For example, the Cicero Institute reports that 60 of Louisiana’s 64 parishes are designated health professional shortage areas (HPSAs).6 Updating Louisiana’s audiology practice act to reflect audiologists’ full education and training will help streamline patient access to safe, timely hearing and balance care while allowing physicians and other providers to focus on services that uniquely require their expertise.
The much-needed updates to Louisiana’s audiology practice act, as incorporated in HB 925, will improve access to safe, effective audiologic care for Louisianans, provide greater patient choice, reduce costs, and improve outcomes.
HB 925 will harmonize regulations and statutes governing the practice of audiology and properly reflect the education, training, and skills that audiologists possess, while establishing appropriate consumer protections by limiting the practice of audiology to those services for which audiologists are educated and trained.
ADA encourages swift passage of HB 925. Please contact me at sczuhajewski@audiologist.org if I can provide additional information about the merits of HB 925, or if I can assist you in any way.
Respectfully,
Stephanie Czuhajewski, MPH, CAE
Executive Director
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1 https://www.laptboard.org/assets/docs/Board_Statements/08-02-2024-Response-to-APTA-LA-Re-Imaging.pdf
2 https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=93009
3 https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=93782
4 https://www.ama-assn.org/practice-management/sustainability/new-ochsner-health-physician-returns-home-serve-her-community
5 https://ciceroinstitute.org/research/louisiana-physician-shortage-facts/
6 See 2