IHS 2026 Conference & Expo Event Schedule

3:00pm – 4:00pm |Innovation Station, brought to you by Cochlear

Practice Management Track:

What’s Working Now: How to Win When You’re Not the Biggest, Loudest, or Cheapest

Presented by Oli Luke

The old playbook is broken. What used to drive growth – more ads, more posts, more tactics, more noise – doesn’t work the way it once did. Markets are crowded. Attention is fragmented. Trust is harder to earn. And being “good” is no longer enough to be chosen. This session breaks down what’s actually working right now for small and independent practices competing against bigger brands, bigger budgets, and louder voices. You’ll learn why depth now beats width, why differentiation has quietly replaced visibility as the real growth lever, and how the most successful practices are building trust-led brands that attract pre-sold patients before the first conversation even happens. This isn’t theory. It’s not trends for trend’s sake. And it’s definitely not a list of shiny tools. It’s a practical, honest look at how buying decisions are really being made today – and what to focus on if growth, resilience, and relevance matter more than keeping up appearances.

Clinical Track:

Leveraging the Cognitive Health Connection as a Clinical Differentiator

Presented by Mehdi Foroogozar, MS, BC-HIS

For 75 years, the hearing healthcare profession has focused primarily on the physics of sound and the mechanics of amplification. However, as we look toward the future, the most critical frontier isn’t just the ear—it’s the brain. Recent longitudinal studies have solidified the link between untreated hearing loss and accelerated cognitive decline, social isolation, and increased risk of falls. In this session, Mehdi Foroogozar will bridge the gap between cutting-edge research and chair-side application. We will explore how to integrate cognitive health screenings and counseling into a standard clinical workflow without disrupting practice efficiency. Attendees will learn how to shift the patient narrative from “better hearing” to “protecting brain function,” a shift that not only improves patient outcomes and device adoption but also elevates the Specialist’s role as a vital member of the patient’s primary healthcare team.

Practice Management Track:

Fix the Conversation, Not the Device: A Practical Approach to Reducing Hearing Aid Returns

Presented by Dave Fabry, PhD & Blaise Delfino, MS

Hearing aid returns rarely happen because of the device itself. More often, they are the result of misaligned expectations, rushed conversations, or patients moving forward before they are truly ready. While technology continues to improve, return rates remain a persistent challenge that impacts patient trust, clinician confidence, and practice sustainability. This session reframes hearing aid returns as a front-end communication and process issue rather than a technical failure. Drawing from real-world private practice experience and consistently low return rates, this presentation explores how the earliest conversations, often before the fitting even begins, play a decisive role in long-term success. Through guided discussion, live demonstrations, and small-group role-play exercises, attendees will practice practical communication strategies they can immediately implement in their own clinics. The session remains manufacturer-neutral and patient-centered, emphasizing ethical care, stronger engagement, and improved long-term outcomes. By the end of this session, participants will leave with a repeatable framework for improving conversations, strengthening patient alignment, and meaningfully reducing hearing aid returns without relying on new products, technology, or sales tactics.

Clinical Track:

Audio Engineering Approaches to First Fit and Follow-Up Hearing Aid Visits

Presented by Kirk Farmer, BC-HIS

Modern fitting software can match prescriptive targets, but it cannot ensure that hearing aids sound natural, comfortable, or sustainable for each individual wearer. This session reframes hearing aids as a personal PA system for an audience of one, drawing on principles from live and recorded audio mixing, studio design, acoustics, and psychoacoustics. The focus is on the most critical—and often most challenging—appointments: the first fit and early follow-up visits. Rather than relying solely on acclimatization or generic reassurance when patients report issues such as their own voice sounding echoey or boomy, that “everything is amplified,” or that other voices sound unnatural, clinicians will learn to approach these scenarios like audio engineers fine-tuning a mix. Using a simplified signal-chain model, the session demonstrates how to translate common patient descriptions into specific acoustic issues—such as venting and ear acoustics, frequency-specific gain, microphone directionality, and noise management or DNN features. Participants will learn how critical listening skills—such as identifying harshness, muddiness, or an imbalanced midrange—can inform precise, intentional adjustments rather than trial-and-error knob-turning. Real-world examples will illustrate how to structure effective targeted questions and balance clarity with listening comfort and cognitive load, especially for older adults or those with long-standing, previously unmanaged hearing loss. Attendees will gain a practical, repeatable workflow that transforms post-fitting troubleshooting from guesswork into the art of mixing a personal PA system a patient can wear all day.