Academy Opposes Tennessee Legislation to Add Cerumen Management to Hearing Instrument Specialist Scope of Practice

The Academy expressed its opposition to Tennessee legislation (SB 665/ HB 920) that would add cerumen management to the scope of practice for hearing instrument specialists who have completed an International Hearing Society cerumen management course.

The Academy’s letter pointed out the critical differences between the education and training of an audiologist and a hearing instrument specialist and that cerumen management requires specialized training and experience that cannot be obtained through a short-term workshop as proposed by this legislation. For these reasons, the Academy’s letter advised that this scope of practice expansion for hearing instrument specialists would not be in the best interests of Tennessee consumers.