VA medical center to offer cochlear implant programming and services

The medical center recently was certified as a cochlear implant programming center, meaning Veterans who have the devices no longer will need to drive long distances to have them programmed or serviced. It’s something lead audiologist, Dr. Robert Noble, described as a “quality of life issue.”

“I think this is a great way to open some doors because before we started, they had to travel to Little Rock, Memphis, St. Louis or Springfield,” explained audiologist, Dr. Riley Rickman.

Rickman, who worked with cochlear implants prior to coming to VA two years ago, said she’s seen numerous Veterans at the medical center who qualified for implant evaluation, but they chose not to follow through because they didn’t want to drive to St. Louis.

“The thing with an implant in the first year is you’re probably going to need to see the audiologist between eight and 12 times,” Rickman explained. “That’s a lot of travel up there and they’re saying ‘nope, I’m not doing it.’

“It’s hard to convince somebody to get something that they literally can’t hear without when they’re three or four hours away from the audiologist.” 

The programming certification, Rickman noted, has been in the works for about a year and a half, Rickman said, adding “We will be able to do their evaluation here to tell whether or not they will qualify audiometrically.”

For those who decide an implant is their best option, the actual surgery still must be done at the John Cochran VA Medical Center in St. Louis; however, it only requires a single trip and “A lot of times they can go home the same day,” she said.

Following the surgery, all other follow-ups, device programming and testing can be done locally. “We’re closer for somebody who needs troubleshooting or who needs general wear and tear fixes,” Rickman said.

As time has passed, the qualifications for getting a cochlear implant have become more widely misunderstood, Rickman noted. “A lot of people have a misconception about cochlear implants that it’s like they were 20 years ago,” she said. “Back then, you had to have no residual hearing, and cochlear implants were for people who absolutely couldn’t hear anything.”

Today, however, the qualifications are different.

“The technology has come so far that the criteria has expanded so drastically. There are a ton of people who would benefit from one, but they don’t pursue it because they think they won’t qualify because they have hearing,” she explained. “However, their hearing and their word and speech discrimination is so poor that hearing aids really don’t provide them the benefit for speech and only give them the awareness of sound.”

Far more people would qualify for an implant today, she said, with general evaluation qualifications being less than 60% word understanding and having a 60-decibel pure tone average, meaning they have a moderate to profound hearing loss.

She does caution Veterans considering a cochlear implant that they are permanent, so “the implant process is for those who are truly committed to it, because there’s no going back,” she said. 

Noble agreed, saying “It’s not like if your hearing aid goes out you can still muddle by. Once you’re implanted, you are dependent on the provider that’s making the adjustments.”

The new service offering, Rickman said, is “going to make people’s lives easier and make them more confident about getting an implant. I’m excited to get going.”

For more information about audiology or other programs and services available at the John J. Pershing VA Medical Center, visit https://www.va.gov/poplar-bluff-health-care/ or call .