At Fifth Avenue Hearing, we value your time and strive to make your experience as smooth as possible. To help us provide the best care, we’ve made our patient information form available online.
Simply complete the form before your visit to save time and ensure we have all the necessary details to tailor your hearing care to your needs.
Your journey to better hearing starts here—download, fill out, and bring your form to your appointment.
Have questions? Our friendly team is here to help!
Frequently Asked Questions
What insurance does Fifth Avenue Hearing accept?
Fifth Avenue Hearing accepts all types of insurance for hearing tests, including Medicare. However, we currently do not accept Medicaid. The amount of insurance reimbursement varies considerably by company and by policy. Most insurance companies will cover 100% of the cost of the annual hearing test, but few offer significant coverage for the purchase of hearing devices. It is always wise to check with your insurance company before your appointment so you know the extent of your coverage.What payment methods does Fifth Avenue Hearing accept?
Fifth Avenue Hearing prefers all translations to be completed with credit cards. However, checks will be accepted with appropriate documentation, and cash is always accepted.How To Videos:
The Patient Journey
What can a new patient to Fifth Avenue Hearing expect during the initial visit to see Dr. Yabukov?
When you walk through the door at Fifth Avenue Hearing, you immediately know you have entered a very special office. The environment of the office is intended to communicate the level of quality, caring and professionalism that patients receive when they come to this office. Over the next 45 minutes a new patient can expect the following journey.
Getting to know you and initial assessment
First, Dr. Rufina will spend approximately 20 minutes getting to know you, as there are so many different factors that impact upon a patient’s hearing experience. She will gather a great deal of background information about your lifestyle, your health, and importantly your goals in coming for your appointment.
For example, have you made the appointment because you do not feel you are hearing as well as you feel you should, or have you come because a friend or family member suggested that you may not be hearing as well as you should, and that it would be advisable to get your hearing tested.
During this intake session Dr. Rufina will be observing your reactions to the discussion to get some preliminary reactions to how well you hear.
A key part of this phase of the appointment is when she will look into your ear to determine if there is any disease indicated or whether you might have ear wax build-up which might be affecting your hearing.
Depending on the situation with your ear wax, she may be able to remove any that could be affecting your hearing, or in severe situations, she might recommend you visit an ENT to get impacted ear wax removed by the doctor. Assuming ear wax is not an issue, she will move to the second phase of the appointment.
Hearing Evaluation
Second, Dr. Rufina will invite you to move to the soundproof booth where she will administer the hearing test. This test involves two basic elements. This test takes approximately 15 minutes.
The first is where each ear is exposed to a wide range of tones, and you will indicate to her (via raising your hand) whether you are able to hear the sounds.
The second part of the test is a word comprehension exercise during which you are exposed to a wide variety of different words, with the objective of determining how clearly you can distinguish the words that were spoken.
Reviewing The Results & Recommendations
Third, Dr. Rufina will show you the output from your hearing test both in the form of an audiogram, that indicates your ability to hear different frequency levels, and then your word comprehension scores based on the output of the test.
Fourth, Dr. Rufina will provide you with her conclusions and recommendations in terms of whether you have a hearing loss that could be helped with a hearing device or whether you should just plan to come back in one year for another annual hearing test.
Reviewing Hearing Instrument Recommendations
Reviewing Treatment Plan Costs
An important part of this discussion will relate to the cost of the hearing devices, and what this cost includes.
For example, virtually all hearing aids are sold as a “bundled” package, so that any follow-up visits (patients average 4.3 visits/year) are covered, as would any minor repairs that might be needed. Typically, hearing aids are sold with a 3- or 4-year warranty, which covers services of any kind during the life of the hearing aids.
A part of this discussion would be the financing options that may be available, and any potential coverage the patient might have from their insurance company. Most insurance plans do not provide any meaningful coverage to offset the cost of hearing aids, although the annual hearing test is almost always 100% covered.
Fifth, patients generally make a decision at this stage whether to purchase (or not ) or to try a “loaner” set for a week or two to see the benefits gained under real life experiences.
