President & CEO, Demant A/S
FCOM_Interview_Soren Nielsen_Widex
Dr. Patricia Ramos, and Audiologist and Co-founder of the Network of Medical Audiology interviews Soren Nielsen, President Widex US. What is happening at Widex today? Listen to Soren Nielsen sharing his perspective on Widex Sound, the impact of the pandemic on hearing aid use and remote programming.
About Søren Nielsen
In a November 2021 interview, Søren Nielsen, then President of Widex US, discussed the company's focus on sound quality and the role of technology in hearing care. He stated that Widex's main focus is "the most natural and pure sound" achieved through a "time domain filter bank" that reduces delay, and that the company continues to add features using artificial intelligence to create a more customized sound experience. Nielsen observed that the COVID-19 pandemic increased public attention to hearing difficulties and helped people realize that "hearing and understanding is not the same thing," which he said prompted more individuals to seek hearing solutions. He noted that while remote care solutions saw initial uptake, they declined once in-person consultations became possible again, indicating "a huge human component in having a successful fitting with hearing aids." He described remote technology as a "good supplement" for follow-ups but emphasized that the process begins with personal interaction and consultation.
Transcript (12 segments)
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Patricia Ramos0:03
Hi, Dr. Patricia Ramos here from the Network of Medical Audiology Professionals, and I'm here with Søren Nielsen from Widex. Tell me a little bit about what's new in Widex and what's coming.
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Søren Nielsen0:16
So for Widex, the main focus is our sound—the most natural and pure sound—and the technology behind that, the time domain filter bank, which is what allows us to reduce the delay to a minimum. That's a solution that we launched about a year and a half ago, and we are still working and adding features to that, along with the artificial intelligence that really allows us to create a more customized, more individualized sound experience for the user when they adopt and use the app for that.
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Patricia Ramos0:53
Well, and I think being someone who's been in the industry for three decades, it's super interesting to have watched the journey of hearing aid technology. How do you think that change in technology is benefiting patients?
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Søren Nielsen1:08
So I think the hearing care professional is absolutely the key, because understanding what are the real needs of the patient and how they take on hearing aids and make sure that they help them in those everyday situations where they're the most important is where the hearing care professional makes the difference. But I think that the technology is becoming a better tool, and that we've added new features that allow hearing care professionals to customize that experience more and actually make it work. Within the industry, you have a bit of the tendency of thinking about hearing aids as—they just work and they're a great solution whenever you have a hearing loss. But we also know that in reality, a lot of patients who go and get a hearing evaluation done don't get a hearing aid. It's quite common in clinics that you have 40 percent who gets a hearing aid, 50, maybe 60—that's high—which still means that there's 40 percent who felt that they had a need for a solution who ends up not getting one. So I do think that by utilizing the technology—and it's about the hearing aid itself but it's also about some of the added benefits through streaming, through app control, and so on—that just creates more value for the patient. It means that they all together get a better solution.
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Patricia Ramos2:31
So the last 18 months have been very unusual for the world in general, but in hearing healthcare we've had a lot going on, right? Starting with—I think one thing that I've noticed, and I'm sure I know manufacturers have as well—is once the pandemic hit and everybody put a mask on, all of a sudden everybody started to realize they had difficulty hearing. How do you see that realization of what's happening in the industry right now, all this disruption that's going on, the Medicare acts that are being looked at—how do you see that impacting the profession?
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Søren Nielsen3:08
So I do think that one of the things that happened, as you mentioned, was that we all started paying more attention to some of the clues that are so important for understanding what's going on, and realizing that hearing and understanding is not the same thing. And I do think that is making more people come out and look for hearing solutions, which is a good thing all together. I also think it's been interesting to see how there was an initial pickup really out of need for remote solutions and remote care solutions, and to some extent some even replacing that personal face-to-face conversation with remote solutions. And we've seen that actually die back very quickly as face-to-face consultations became possible again. And it really tells me that there is a huge human component in having a successful fitting with hearing aids, and that we shouldn't neglect that. Actually, that needs to be built into the process. It still means that using remote technology for follow-up conversations and so on can be a good supplement, but it really starts with that personal interaction, that sort of consultation and guidance of the patient through the conversations you have in clinic.
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Patricia Ramos4:33
And the ability of remote programming was vital for us obviously during the pandemic, and being able to have that relationship but still keep patients safe during that time—I think also kind of brought telemedicine back to the forefront. So I would love—one of my goals is that we don't totally revert back, because hearing healthcare obviously you're dealing with an aged population that may have a number of other medical comorbidities, that they're seeing a lot of physicians and things of that sort. So being able to meet them where they are and not having to travel really is a benefit.
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Søren Nielsen5:06
Yeah, absolutely. And I really hope that we take it in as a learning to say that a key part of this is upfront—the right consultation and meeting with the patient. But this is a supplement to the journey for the patient, i.e., getting that support, getting those adjustments and fine tunings done, and so on. Hopefully we won't be struggling with a pandemic to the extent that we did in the beginning, where it was really, really critical to have that solution. But also for the future, I think that remote solutions provide a higher degree of convenience and actually ability to support patients when they're out and about. So I absolutely don't hope that it will revert back. I think that we're just learning where do all of these bits of technology fit into the best possible consultation and patient journey.
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Patricia Ramos6:02
Absolutely. So, Søren, this is your first time being here at EVCOM. Tell me—you know, it's geared obviously to be a very collaborative space, and hearing healthcare is something that has kind of always stayed in its silo in a lot of ways. How do you see a collaborative meeting of this type helping us in outcomes for the patient?
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Søren Nielsen6:27
I think it's a very, very good thing, and thank you for having me here and having come to see this collaboration. And with EVCOM, I would say mostly focused on the ENT and audiology collaboration, it's really a continuous sort of treatment. The ENT often will be the first person to see that there is a hearing loss or a hearing issue, right? But handing it over and making sure that ENTs think about audiology as an option and a need within the services that they provide—I think is a very good thing. So bringing audiology and ENTs together here at EVCOM, I think, is very positive.
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Patricia Ramos7:15
Well, we're super happy to have you with us. Hope you'll come back next year.
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Søren Nielsen7:16
Absolutely. Thank you for having me.