Section 192.7. Continuing education

(v) Infection control and New York State and Federal law, regulation and professional conduct for hearing aid dispensers. As a condition of renewing a hearing aid dispenser registration, each hearing aid dispenser shall successfully complete a total of 20 continuing education credits per registration period as set forth in section 794 of the General Business Law. At least [two] one of [these] the required credit hours shall be devoted to the subject of infection control as prescribed by the Secretary of State, at least one of the required credit hours shall be devoted to the subject of telecoil (t-coil) and other assistive listening devices, and at least one of the required credit hours shall be devoted to the subject of New York State and Federal law, regulations and professional conduct as prescribed by the Secretary of State.

(w) Infection control and New York State and Federal law, regulation and professional conduct for audiologists. As a condition of renewing a hearing aid dispenser registration, each audiologist who is registered as a hearing aid dispenser under General Business Law section 790(1)(b), shall successfully complete four continuing education credits relating to the dispensing of hearing aids as set forth in section 794 of the General Business Law. At least [two] one of [these] the required credit hours shall be devoted to the subject of infection control, at least one of the required credit hours shall be devoted to the subject of telecoil (t-coil) and other assistive listening devices, and at least one of the required credit hours shall be devoted to the subject of New York State and Federal law, regulations and professional conduct.

1. Statutory authority:

Article 37-a of General Business Law (“GBL”), Registration of Hearing Aid Dispensers, prescribes continuing education requirements for individuals and business entities to act as a hearing aid dispenser. GBL §§ 791(2) and 794 authorizes the Secretary of State to promulgate rules and regulations establishing the content requirements of continuing education hearing aid dispenser courses. GBL § 794 authorizes the Secretary to promulgate rules and regulations establishing the method, content and supervision requirements for the continuing education course or courses provided for in this section. GBL § 803 authorizes the Secretary to promulgate such rules and regulations as are deemed necessary to effectuate the purposes of Article 37-a.

2. Legislative objectives:

To protect the hearing-impaired public by ensuring competent, honest and accountable dispensers of hearing aids who will protect the health, safety and welfare of the people of New York State.

3. Needs and benefits:

Existing laws regulating the dispensing of hearing aids have been ineffective in providing adequate education to hearing aid dispensers and audiologists regarding telecoil (t-coil) and other assistive listening devices. T-coils are small copper coils on hearing aids that allow various sound sources to be directly connected to hearing aids, improving sound quality and permitting the hearing aid user to easily perceive the signal of interest in almost any environment regardless of background noise. The T-coil feature provides access to many public accommodations such as movie theaters, libraries, theaters, and auditoriums.

Although T-coils are an option on a variety of hearing aids, many consumers are not sufficiently informed of their availability or benefits when purchasing hearing aids. Requiring at least one of the required credit hours of continuing education for hearing aid dispensers and audiologists to be devoted to the subject of telecoil (t-coil) and other assistive listening devices will promote the safety of users of hearing aids by enabling hearing aid dispensers and audiologists to more thoroughly advise hearing aid consumers of the benefits and uses of T-coils. These changes are intended to ensure continued consumer access to safe, reliable and appropriate hearing aid dispensing services.

4. Costs:

a. Costs to regulated parties:

The Department does not anticipate additional costs to regulated parties resulting from the implementation of the rule. Hearing aid dispenser and audiologist licensees are already required to complete a greater number of total course hours, and this rule simply reallocates the required subject matters.

b. Costs to the Department of State:

The rule does not impose any costs to the agency, the state or local governments for the implementation and continuation of the rule. Existing staff will answer any questions about the regulatory changes and investigate and enforce compliance with the proposed rules.

5. Local government mandates:

The rule does not impose any program, service, duty or responsibility upon any county, city, town, village, school district or other special district.

6. Paperwork:

The rule does not impose any new paperwork requirements. Insofar as licensees are already required to satisfactorily complete continuing education prior to renewal, this rule change does not impose new paperwork requirements.

7. Duplication:

This rule does not duplicate, overlap or conflict with any other state or federal requirement.

8. Alternatives:

The New York State Department of State and Hearing Aid Dispenser Board participated in a series of open meetings with various stakeholders to discuss and consider alternative variations of course subject matter and allocation of required hours within the hearing aid dispenser curriculum. After due consideration of various alternatives to the existing hearing aid dispenser and audiologist course curriculum, the Department of State determined that the proposed course subject matter and allocation of hours was the preferred option and recommended said proposal. The Department for example considered not permitting audiologists to have any elective courses, but was informed by the New York State Board for Speech-language Pathology and Audiology that allowing an elective would benefit licensed audiologists who also dispensed hearing aids.

9. Federal standards:

There are no federal standards relating to this rule. Consequently, this rule does not exceed any existing federal standard.

10. Compliance schedule:

The rule will be effective January 1, 2019 to allow licensees to prepare for this change, as well as allow educational providers to create new courses to cover these topics.

1. Effect of rule:

The rule will require that all licensed hearing aid dispensers complete at least 1 hour of continuing education devoted to telecoil (t-coil) and other assistive listening devices prior to renewal. The majority of hearing aid businesses licensed by the Department are small businesses employing 10 or fewer persons.

The rule does not apply to local governments.

2. Compliance requirements:

Insofar as the existing statute and regulations already require minimum continuing education requirements for license renewal, the rule making will not add any new reporting, record keeping or other compliance requirements.

The rule does not impose any compliance requirements on local governments.

3. Professional services:

Hearing aid dispensers will not need to rely on any new or different professional services in order to comply with the rule. Dispensers are already required to complete continuing education pursuant to Article 37-a of the General Business Law. Insofar as dispensers must already attend and complete approved education courses, this proposal will not result in the need to rely on any new professional services. The Department expects existing education providers to offer new approved courses in accordance with this rule making.

The rule does not impose any compliance requirements on local governments.

4. Compliance costs:

The rule making will not result in increased costs to dispensers as the proposal merely reallocates existing course requirements, and does not add new credit hours to renew. The rule does not impose any compliance costs on governments.

5. Economic and technologic feasibility:

This rule is both economically and technologically feasible to comply with. The Department is aware that there are courses which already provide instruction in this subject area so dispensers will be able to comply.

6. Minimizing adverse impact:

The rule making will not result in any adverse economic impact. Insofar as dispensers must already attend and complete approved education courses, the rule will not have an adverse economic impact on prospective dispensers seeking renewal.

7. Small business participation:

This proposal was discussed at several open meetings conducted by the Hearing Aid Advisory Board and at least 1 meeting of the New York State Board for Speech-language Pathology and Audiology; these meeting allowed for small business participation. Additionally, publication of the proposed rule in the State Register will provide additional notice to small businesses of the proposed rule making.

A rural area flexibility analysis is not required because this rule does not impose any adverse impact on rural areas, and the rule does not impose any new reporting, record keeping or other compliance requirements on public or private entities in rural areas. The rule merely proposes the reallocation of the required course hours that dispensers are required to complete. Insofar as the existing regulations already require education requirements for renewal, the rule making will not add any new reporting, record keeping or other compliance requirements on public or private entities in rural areas, outside of the proposed changes in the education requirement.

A job impact statement is not required because this rule will not have any substantial impact on jobs or employment opportunities for registered hearing aid dispensers. The rule making reallocates existing continuing education credit hours to include 1 hour of instruction in a new topic. The Department finds that this change will not have any foreseeable impact on jobs or employment opportunities for hearing aid dispensers seeking renewal.