What's really driving cochlear implant growth in 2026? And what's holding it back? Meet Dr. Dan Zeitler, MD, FACS, Chair of the American Cochlear Implant Alliance (ACIA) and co-director of the Listen for Life Cochlear Implant Center in Seattle. As the lead author on ACIA's groundbreaking task force recommendations for adult CI candidacy, Dan has a front-row seat to the market forces reshaping the field.
What You'll Hear:
· The Penetration Problem: Why only 2% of eligible candidates are getting implanted under expanded criteria (down from 12-13% under traditional Medicare standards)
· The Numerator vs. Denominator Challenge: More people are being implanted than ever before, but the pool of eligible candidates is growing even faster
· Who's Coming Through the Door (and Who Isn't): Why single-sided deafness and asymmetric hearing loss patients are flowing in, but bilateral hearing loss patients remain resistant
· Supply vs. Demand: Is the bigger bottleneck lack of patient awareness or lack of clinical capacity?
· The Primary Care Gap: Why PCPs are the critical missing link in the referral pathway
· Workflow Revolution: How reducing appointment schedules, adopting remote programming, and partnering with community audiologists can scale CI access
· The 40-Year Problem: Why the field must be willing to change workflows that have been standard practice for decades
Dan doesn't pull punches: "We all have to be willing to change what we've done with our patients for the last 40 years. We have to be willing to change." This conversation tackles Medicare expansion, private payer follow-through, competitive dynamics among the three major manufacturers, and the workforce capacity constraints threatening to create a supply-side crisis.
Who should listen?Audiologists, otolaryngologists, neurotologists, program directors, hospital administrators, payers, policymakers, and anyone trying to understand why 95% of eligible CI candidates still aren't getting implanted.
If you're wondering whether the field is actually ready for the demand that expanded candidacy could create, this episode gives you the honest answer.
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This episode is sponsored by Envoy Medical.
