BELTONE—the Most Trusted Name in Hearing Care

Founded in 1940, Chicago-based Beltone is a global leader in hearing care, and a major manufacturer of advanced hearing instruments. As a member of GN Resound’s family of brands, Beltone’s robust product line features over 80 styles of hearing instruments, and serves patients in the United States, Canada, and over 40 countries worldwide.

With research and development groups located in the United States, Denmark, Holland, and China, we continue our legacy of creating world class products for the hearing impaired.

Over 95% Patient Satisfaction

Among senior citizens and Baby Boomers across America, ‘Beltone’ is synonymous with ‘hearing aids’. For over seven decades, Beltone’s industry-leading innovation, combined with our holistic approach to patient care, has resulted in a better life for millions of people.

As a business partner, you can count on Beltone to give your patients a fully-realized experience that includes a state-of-the-art hearing exam, hearing aid technology matched to individual needs, and follow-up care for the life of all hearing aids. Beltone is dedicated to bringing our partners the same stability, service and reliability that has made us the most trusted name in hearing care.

Explore what’s behind the Beltone name:
State-of-the Art Hearing Exams
Award-Winning Technology
BelCare™ Aftercare
Manufacturing
State-of-the-Art Hearing Exams

Your Patients Get the Best from Beltone…

Beltone takes a holistic approach to patient care. That means every screening includes a health history, a lifestyle assessment and a thorough hearing screening. We ask each patient to bring along a loved one, as well. Getting to know patients as people helps us better serve them.

Visual Examination of the Ears

Next, both the ear canal and ear drum are inspected with a video or standard otoscope. Among other conditions, otoscopes spot ear wax occlusions, ear drum perforations and signs of infection, conditions that are generally referred to a physician. Otherwise, the evaluation continues with the pure tone air conduction test.

Air Conduction Testing

The pure tone air conduction test notes the very softest tones heard at least 50% of the time they are played. Patients sit in a completely quiet sound booth, wearing earphones. Starting with one ear, tones of different frequencies are played one at a time. Each tone is played at progressively softer levels until no longer heard. Responses are charted on an audiogram, and the resulting graph indicates how well outer and middle ear structures process sound.

Bone Conduction Testing

Bone conduction testing uses the same process as air conduction testing, but tones are sent to a device placed behind the ear instead of into earphones. This allows sounds to bypass the outer and middle ear and pass through the skull to the inner ear. In this manner, bone conduction testing accurately assesses the inner ear’s hearing ability, without influence from the outer or middle ear.

Once the results of the air conduction and bone conduction testing are plotted on the audiogram, a fuller picture of hearing health emerges. If a hearing loss is indicated, the audiogram identifies the degree (mild, moderate, severe, profound), and the type (conductive, sensori neural, mixed).

Speech Testing

The next step in the process is testing that measures speech recognition. The first test requires the patient to repeat a series of one and two-syllable words that are played at successively lower levels. Identifying these levels helps to further determine the patient’s hearing aid candidacy. Other valuable speech tests performed may include:

• Speech-in-Noise test—determines how well sentences are heard in noisy environments
• Most Comfortable Listening Level (MCL)—systematically increases volume until it feels “just right”
• Threshold of Discomfort (TD)/Recruitment test—systematically increases volume until it’s uncomfortable

Speech tests help customize hearing devices so it’s easier to comprehend conversation in multiple listening environments, including noisy ones.

Beltone audiologists and hearing care practitioners always take the time to explain every step of the exam, and help patients understand results. From mild hearing loss to severe impairment, we offer the right solution for every Beltone patient.