Advanced Bionics CEO Hosts Unique Online Chats For Cochlear Implant Patients, Hearing Professionals

July 16, 2009 - PRLog -- VALENCIA, Calif., – Advanced Bionics, the only U.S.-based manufacturer of cochlear implants, announced a series of online chats with company President and CEO Jeff Greiner. The series of ongoing Tuesday evening chats kicked off to a resounding success with the first two chats in June, offering cochlear implant patients, candidates, clinicians and surgeons the rare opportunity to have an informal and personal discussion with the head of the company. The first chat focused on Advanced Bionics’ commitment to putting patients first and looked at ways to better do so.

“It’s critical that we keep an open line of communication with our recipients as well as the clinicians and surgeons who restore hearing with our cochlear implant systems,” Greiner said. “It is particularly valuable for me to be able to speak directly with people and my experience at the first chat was very positive, so I look forward to hearing from more patients, candidates, audiologists and others.”   

During the second chat, titled “Building a Reliable Cochlear Implant System,” Greiner discussed the qualities that make AB cochlear implants highly reliable, including a 99.6% two-year cumulative survival rate and advanced water protection. Early July’s “Ease of Use and Aesthetics of AB’s Cochlear Implant System” chat covered the many options available to implant recipients to fit their lifestyles, from a comfortable all-behind-the-ear option for adults to a some-on-the-ear option for small children (with the processor over the ear and the battery clipped to clothing). Upcoming topics of conversation will cover the following designated chat themes, but will not be limited to them:

•   July 21 — AB is Delivering the Best Hearing Performance
•   August 4 — Making it Easy on Your Journey to Hearing
•   August 25 — Supporting Patients’ CI Insurance and Reimbursement Needs
•   September 8 — Supporting Every Generation of AB Recipient
•   October 13 — AB Around the World: The Making of a Global Company
•   November 3 — AB: We’re Here so You Hear

The chats begin at 5 p.m. PDT (8 p.m. EDT) and last roughly an hour. To learn more about the chats and how to participate, visit http://www.bionicear.com/calendar. Pre-registration is not required to join the discussions.

Advanced Bionics has the most advanced cochlear implant system on the market, the Harmony® HiResolution® Bionic Ear System, with five times more sound resolution than its competitors, allowing deaf recipients to go beyond deciphering simple speech to hearing music. Cochlear implants are surgically implanted electronic devices for people with severe-to-profound hearing loss. Unlike hearing aids, they don’t amplify sound, but work by directly stimulating any functioning auditory nerves inside the cochlea through electric impulses.
   
About Advanced Bionics

Founded in 1993 by Al Mann, Advanced Bionics is an innovative manufacturer of auditory technologies. Headquartered in Valencia, Calif., Advanced Bionics is the only American manufacturer of cochlear implants – the only technology approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to functionally restore a human sense. To learn more about Advanced Bionics and its revolutionary cochlear implant technology, visit http://www.BionicEar.com.

# # #

Olmstead Williams Communications is a public relations firm that specializes in serving businesses in the healthcare and life sciences, technology, legal, accounting and other professional services sectors.