Title 19 Part 192

registrant or business registrant means any individual, corporation, partnership, trust, association or other organization maintaining an established New York State business address who engages in the business of dispensing hearing aids at retail.

binaural hearing aids means hearing aids as defined in General Business Law, section 789(7) involving both ears.

otolaryngologist shall include a physician who uses the designation otorhinolaryngologist or otologist to describe his medical specialty and is similarly entitled to practice such specialty.

consumer includes a purchaser, customer or user of a hearing aid, or the parent or guardian of a purchaser, customer or user.

In addition to the information listed in General Business Law, section 790, the application shall set forth:

If the application is submitted by an individual or unincorporated association using an assumed name or by a partnership, the application shall include a certified copy of the certificate of doing business under the assumed or partnership name filed with the county clerk. If the application is submitted by a corporation, limited partnership or limited liability company using an assumed name, the application shall include a copy of the certificate of assumed name filed with the department.

The application shall be signed and affirmed by the applicant under penalty of perjury. An application made on behalf of a partnership or corporation shall be executed by the managing general partner or corporate officer who shall have been named in the application as the principal partner or officer.

A name may not contain any word or words which may imply that the applicant provides any medical treatment or audiometric examinations.

The business certificate of registration and the individual certificate of each dispenser employed at a permanent business location shall be conspicuously posted in open view at such location.

If there is a change in any information set forth in the application after the issuance of a certificate of registration, a statement of amendment on a form prescribed by the department and executed in the manner required for an application shall be filed by the registrant within 10 days of such change. However, a change of address shall be reported within 30 days.

No individual, partnership or corporation or other entity or group of persons shall operate under an existing certificate of registration, if there has been a transfer of ownership of the business. For the purpose of this subdivision, a transfer of ownership shall mean a transfer by an individual owner of any portion of his interest, or a transfer of 50 percent or more of the partnership interest or of the issued and outstanding stock of a corporation or other entity.

No offering of a course of study shall be acceptable for credit unless such course of study shall have been approved by the department.

A registrant shall maintain and, upon request, provide to the department proof of satisfactory completion of the continuing education requirements for the registrant's current and immediately preceding term of registration.

Dispenser continuing education courses and offerings may be presented by: any college or university accredited by the Commissioner of Education of the State of New York; public and private vocational schools; audiology, hearing and/or hearing aid professional societies and organizations; medical facilities; or hearing instrument manufacturers.

Approval for continuing education courses may be granted for courses which cover hearing aid dispenser-related topics. No credit will be granted for sales or sales-related courses or components thereof.

A program must contain a minimum of one contact hour and may contain a maximum of 20 contact hours of instruction.

A sponsor of a course which is conducted on one day may file an application for approval within 30 days of the completion of the course. The sponsor must advise registrants that approval has not been granted.

Each course shall be conducted in such premises and facilities as necessary to properly present the course.

There shall be no change or alteration in any approved course of study of any subject without prior written notice to and approval by the department.

In order to obtain a certificate of completion for continuing education, a dispenser must complete at least 90 percent of the outlined course of instruction. A student may complete hours that are missed at the discretion of the approved entity. Within 30 days of the completion of the course, the approved entity must submit to the department a list of the names and registration numbers of all individuals who successfully complete the approved course.

An educational provider shall issue a certificate of successful completion of a course approved by the Department of State to a person who has attended the required aggregate number of hours of such a course.

An approved course shall be open to any registrant.

An approved entity shall retain the records of all students for a period of five years after the completion of a course, and such papers shall be available for inspection by duly authorized representatives of the department at all times during such period.

A duly authorized representative of the department may audit any course, verify attendance and inspect the records of attendance of a course, at any time during its presentation or for a period of five years after completion thereof, without prior notice to the sponsor.

An educational provider must submit to the department its written policy relating to course cancellation and tuition refunds. Such policy must be provided in writing to prospective students prior to the acceptance of any fees.

Each registration or renewal period for approved courses shall be for 12 months or a part thereof. The period shall commence on each January 1st or a date thereafter and continue until December 31st of each year.

Instructors must submit evidence of such experience with an equivalency application.

Any course approved under this section cannot be taken more than once during the same registration cycle.

A registrant who is unable to complete continuing education requirements due to an extreme ongoing illness or other catastrophe may request an extension from the department. Medical documentation or other evidence of the claimed problem must be submitted along with the request for the extension.

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 one of 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.

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 one of 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.

Prior to the dispensing of a hearing aid, a dispenser must present a certificate of registration, either permanent or temporary, to a prospective employer (business registrant).

Audiometric testing shall take place in a test environment meeting the criteria for background noise in accordance with prevailing hearing related industry standards.

When a customer is home-bound and not able physically or psychologically to receive services in an office setting or it is geographically inconvenient to do so, the dispenser must arrive at the customer's residence with the proper calibrated equipment and a sound level meter to measure ambient noise in the room and be able to perform the test where the ambient sound is not so loud as to interfere with the testing. If the prevailing hearing related industry standards can not be met, such fact must be noted on the audiogram.

In such settings as a nursing home, the dispenser must have the proper equipment and the ambient sound in the site of testing must be such that it does not interfere with the testing. If the prevailing hearing related industry standards can not be met, such fact must be noted on the audiogram.

A registrant shall comply with General Business Law, section 798(16). A bona fide visit by a registrant in the ordinary course of business for the purpose of determining whether a hearing aid sold or rented is properly functioning shall not require the prior request or assent of the customer.

A consumer may register a complaint with any office of the department in person, in writing or by telephone.

Printed educational materials should include:

e.g.,

provide ALDs compatible with their hearing aids) and/or to provide written materials, and shall be offered to all new purchasers of hearing aids and those who need to review the hearing aid orientation materials.